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Light Drizzle Fog/Mist Proposal to build a Taco Bell angers residents
Would replace a vacant building that formerly held a Zorn's
A proposal to build a Taco Bell at 1939 Hempstead Turnpike, to replace a vacant building that formerly held a Zorn’s restaurant, has been met with strong opposition from people who live nearby.
Residents, mostly of adjacent Marion Drive and Bly Road — some of whom have backyards that are feet away from the building’s parking lot — have cited concerns about noise, pollution, rodents and traffic that a proposed fast-food restaurant might bring to their neighborhood.
Representatives of Taco Bell of America LLC were scheduled to appear at a Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals meeting on Wednesday, after the Herald went to press, to request special exceptions to demolish the current building in order to build the restaurant, with a drive-through, off-street parking, a rear-yard dumpster and illuminated signage.
Several residents indicated to the Herald their intention to vocally oppose the proposal at the hearing, explaining that their primary focus is to persuade the town to deny the restaurant’s request for a drive-through.
Liz Mignone, who lives on Marion Drive, said she spoke with Uniondale-based attorney John Farrell, who is representing Taco Bell of America LLC’s proposal, on Monday, and Farrell said he would not object if she requested an adjournment at the hearing. Mignone said that Farrell also agreed to a community meeting to listen to residents’ complaints.
Mignone said she planned to follow adjournment protocols at Wednesday’s hearing, but that residents would still show up and express their complaints to the board.
Farrell did not return multiple calls seeking comment. An email to Taco Bell went unanswered.
A petition against the drive-through, said Mignone, who has lived on Marion Drive for 26 years, has collected 160 signatures.
The site plan calls for a 2,640-square-foot building on the 21,250-square-foot lot on the north side of Hempstead Turnpike, just east of Eisenhower Park. The vehicle entrance and exit way would be from the same curb cut on Hempstead Turnpike.
Kevin Rutkowski, a 20-year resident of Marion Drive, said there isn’t sufficient space to fit all that Taco Bell is requesting. “They’re taking a 20-pound thing and trying to fit it into a 10-pound bag,” he said. “To me, it’s an absolute nightmare what they’re trying to do.”
Mignone said that a Taco Bell would increase traffic on an already congested part of the turnpike that is within yards of a bus stop and a Premiere Care Clinic. She also expressed worry that it would draw customers at all hours from two nightclubs across the turnpike, Zacharys and Aura, whose patrons, she said, often park on Marion Drive and Bly Road. “We are subject to their late-night noise, garbage, beer bottles left behind,” she said. “Taco Bell will only enhance the noise level of the community.”
Residents said that the previous tenant, Zorn’s, which went out of business more than two years ago, did cause some odor issues, but the owner was cooperative with local residents. “Zorn’s wasn’t the kind of place where cars would consistently go through,” said Colleen Bab, who lives on Marion Drive. “They were a family place. They closed at 8.”
Two years ago, the town’s Board of Appeals rejected an application for a proposed Sonic Restaurant at 1900 Hempstead Turnpike, after overwhelming public opposition to the restaurant. Mignone said she hoped the community would respond the same way to the proposed Taco Bell.
Stephen Haller, president of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, said that residents who live near Hempstead Turnpike should not be surprised that businesses like Taco Bell want to move in. “It’s commercial property. What do they expect to put there?” Haller asked. “It’s not like Sonic, where they sit outside and eat. I don’t think it will be noisy.”
Any business that occupies an empty space in East Meadow is progress, he said. “When we lose a place like Zorn’s and it’s off the tax rolls for two years, that’s an awful lot of money the county is losing on property tax, sales tax,” he said. “If you don’t get another business in there, the people who live here are going to have to make up the difference.”
The proposed location is about one mile from another East Meadow Taco Bell, at 1634 Front St., which does not have a drive-through. “This part of Nassau County is totally losing its feel as a suburban community,” Bab said. “Do we really need a Taco Bell? There’s a Checkers, a McDonalds, a Burger King. Really, it’s sad to see what everything has turned into.”
