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Light Rain Residents await Taco Bell decision
After two previous adjournments, a hearing for a proposed Taco Bell, on 1939 Hempstead Turnpike, took place before the Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals, at Town Hall, on March 11.
The nearly four-hour affair, from 6 to 9:45 p.m., comprised Taco Bell representatives, led by attorneys Chris Coschignano and John Farrell, a site engineer, a traffic expert and a real estate expert pleading their case to the board to approve a variance for a drive-through and menu signage. The group also called on East Meadow Chamber of Commerce President Mitchell Allen, who spoke in favor of the restaurant.
About 15 East Meadow residents who oppose the proposal then tried to convince the board to reject the variances.
Taco Bell is proposing a 2,640-square-foot building on a 21,250-square-foot lot, on the turnpike’s north side, just east of Eisenhower Park, in an empty building that most recently held a Zorn’s restaurant. The entrance and exit would be from the same curb cut, and the parking lot would have 29 spaces.
The proposed location would replace the Taco Bell on Front Street, in East Meadow, said Coschignano, adding that the restaurant’s lease is nearly up.
The first adjournment, on Dec. 10, was at residents’ request, so the two sides could arrange a community meeting to air the issues surrounding the restaurant’s proposed drive-through, as well as the overall impact a fast-food restaurant might have on noise, pollution, odor and traffic congestion in the neighborhood.
A second hearing, on Feb. 11, was adjourned again at the request of residents who were upset that the restaurant’s attorneys changed the site plan the morning of the hearing.
Coschignano and Farrell said that the revised site plan, submitted to and approved by town officials, contained changes designed to accommodate residents whose properties abut the proposed restaurant location, including the relocation of a dumpster away from the property line, and a higher, more sound-deadening fence.
Liz Mignone, one of the residents whose backyard connects with the property, said the residents’ main argument last week was the increased traffic and high potential for accidents a drive-through restaurant might bring to the area. She said she recited figures she received from the Nassau County Police Department that said 687 accidents — and four fatalities — occurred on Hempstead Turnpike, between Conti Square Boulevard and Park Boulevard, between 2008 and 2014. “To add another curb cut,” she said, “would be inviting more accidents to happen.”
Taco Bell representatives argued that the restaurant is making many accommodations, including a sound-adjustable speaker, to appease residents, and that the restaurant would complement the turnpike’s business district in East Meadow, which already holds a McDonald’s, Burger King, Checkers, KFC and Wendy’s.
When asked how she felt the hearing went, Mignone said, “The only thing I can say is we gave it our all.”
Town of Hempstead spokeswoman Susie Trenkle-Pokalsy said “there’s no way to know” how long it would take for the board to deliberate and come to a decision.
