North Shore Farms supermarket OKd despite locals' concerns

The Hempstead Town Board of Appeals has unanimously approved a proposal from North Shore Farms to build a supermarket in North Bellmore, despite concerns raised by some residents that the store would create safety issues and increase traffic in a congested area.

The appeals board voted 7-0 on April 10 to grant the request with conditions after holding a public hearing last month. North Shore Farms had requested a special exception because its proposed 18,818-square-foot store at Jerusalem Avenue and Pea Pond Road would be double the allowed size for a building with access to a two-lane road.

The board’s decision allows the family-owned supermarket chain to open its fifth location, at the long-vacant building that housed a Rite Aid drugstore until 2002.

The board’s conditions for approval included allowing the store to operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Garbage will have to be picked up before 7 a.m. and an extermination plan to eliminate potential rat infestation will need to be in place. Deliveries by large trucks will not be permitted during school drop-off and pickup hours — from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

The requirements also mandate that the company submit a landscape plan with proposed plantings, install a sign that prohibits left turns when exiting onto Jerusalem Avenue and configure the driveway exit to allow right turns only. North Shore Farms would also have to request a modification from the state transportation department to the timing of the traffic signal at the intersection during school dismissal hours.