Plans for Freeport's fifth 7-Eleven withdrawn after opposition
A 7-Eleven at 145 West Sunrise Hwy. in Freeport on Monday, June 24, 2013. Credit: Barry Sloan
Developers seeking to build Freeport's fifth 7-Eleven store withdrew their application after the village board of zoning appeals refused to grant an extension to respond to opposition.
Duty Freeport will resubmit a zoning variance application for the store proposed for 215 W. Merrick Rd., said Keith Brown, the Melville attorney representing the company.
Residents had opposed the variance, saying at Thursday's board meeting that another convenience store was not needed.
Brown requested the hearing be adjourned for 30 days, saying the company needed more time "to counter the opposition."
"Nobody will be hurt by granting us the adjournment," Brown said.
But board chairwoman Rosa Rhoden said Brown already had been granted one adjournment. She also noted that the board put off seven other variance applications to devote the night to the 7-Eleven hearing, and about 50 residents had taken the time to show up for that hearing.
The five-member board unanimously denied the adjournment request and ordered the hearing to proceed. Brown then withdrew the variance application, saying it would be resubmitted at a later date.
"We just don't need another of those stores in the village, certainly not in that area," said Douglas Mayers the leader of the NAACP in the village and of the Long Island Caribbean-American Association. "It would also hurt many local businesses."
Mark Davella, a local commercial realtor, cited traffic concerns, saying the proposed site on West Merrick Avenue at the Corner of Long Beach Road was part of "the most accident-prone area in the village."
