By Nick Buglione
The attorney representing the fast-food chain expects that the New York State Supreme Court could hand down its decision in about a month.
"We've been waiting for a decision from the court," said William Bonesso. "It's been a while since we filed the appeal."
Taco Bell filed the appeal shortly after the Hempstead Town Board of Zoning Appeals turned down its bid to build the new restaurant in March 2002. The board cited traffic concerns and waste-management problems among other criticisms in its March 25 decision, which delighted East Meadow community activists who opposed the plan.
"Once the decision is issued by the zoning board, you have 30 days to appeal, and we issued an appeal," Bonesso said.
Richard Bivone, vice president of the Council for East Meadow Community Organizations, is optimistic that the Supreme Court will uphold the zoning board's original decision.
"We're hopeful that the judge will see that putting a Taco Bell there will have an impact on the community," said Bivone, who spearheaded the fight against the proposal. "It's hard to tell, but we thought we presented a good amount of information against it."
In summer 2001, residents living near the Meadow Plaza Shopping Center learned the company had applied for variances in conjunction with the construction of a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express on a 27,445-square-foot pacel of land, which would include a double window drive-thru. Once completed, the new restaurant would replace the current Taco Bell, located farther down Front Street, near Merrick Avenue.
Though CEMCO held a mid-August hearing in an attempt to discuss the proposal and figure out a compromise, residents resoundingly opposed it. At a Nov. 14, 2001 hearing at the Board of Zoning Appeals, nearly 30 East Meadow residents, armed with a petition of more than 1,000 signatures, showed up to voice their opinion that the new Taco Bell would compound an already existing traffic problem and impact parking.
Almost two years after the proposal first surfaced, many residents remain opposed and for primarily the same reasons.
"The traffic is bad now," said Gladys Ronco, who has lived off Front Street for 39 years. "The fire department is right there. They will not be able to get trucks out to help anybody. There's going to be accidents.
"We also feel it's going to become a hangout," she continued, "which we don't want."
Cathy Rhodes, who has called East Meadow home all her life, lives on East Meadow Avenue, not far from the shopping center where Taco Bell wants to put its new restaurant. "It's not conducive to the neighborhood," Rhodes said. "I don't see that [the appeal] could go through with all the facts."
Bonesso maintains that the site is a perfect place for a new Taco Bell. "We felt that the introduction of a drive-thru in a commercial-zoned piece of property, in an established shopping center, was an appropriate use of the site," Bonesso said.
The company also claims that closing down the current Taco Bell in East Meadow and moving it to the proposed location would bolster its yearly revenue from $900,000 to $1.5 million.
Still, it wasn't enough to convince the Board of Zoning Appeals, which ultimately found in the community's favor.
"There will be increased traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, within the shopping center if the application is approved; yet, without an upgrade of security and traffic flow, the shopping center will be subjected to increased accidents," the board said in its decision.
Sanitation was also a concern. "The proposed Taco Bell will generate additional waste; yet, no provisions have been made to alleviate it."
The board also said that the Nassau County Planning Commission's disapproval of the project, coupled with a 2001 police report that documented 76 accidents and 18 injuries at East Meadow Avenue and Front Street, weighed heavily in its decision.
