Proposed Mineola gas station will not be 24-hour

Mineola Village leaders approved a gas station and convenience store but, amid opposition from residents, denied the applicant’s request to stay open 24 hours.

The board last week ruled that Bolla Management Corp. could develop the gas station and convenience store on a former gas station site at 449 Jericho Tpke., after public hearings in October and November. Each lasted several hours, where residents criticized the plan, saying the convenience store would increase traffic and noise in the community.

Representatives for Bolla Management cited traffic studies and in the application wrote that staying open 24 hours and having the convenience store were necessary in order for the business to survive.

The village board set new conditions, setting operating hours from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. for both the gas station and the convenience store. The applicant must install a permanent emergency generator at the site in case of power outages.

The developers cannot provide public seating on the property and must install a 6-foot-tall white PVC fence along the south side of an adjoining municipal parking lot that abuts several homes.