Village of East Hills trustees announced Thursday their plans to oppose the application of a pizzeria seeking to open in a section of the Green Cove Shopping Center currently under construction,
In an Aug. 8 “Message from the Mayor” e-mail to residents, Village of East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz invited residents to “join us” at an Aug. 14 public hearing of the application at the Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning and Appeals scheduled for 10 a.m. at Town Hall in Manhasset.
Koblenz said in the e-mail that the addition of the restaurant to the shopping center “would bring an influx of customers, odors, congestion, pollution and even rodents in the location.”
Neal Kaplan, a managing partner of the Woodbury-based Kabro Associates LLC., which owns the shopping center and others across Long Island, told the Roslyn Times in early June that Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza was among three tenants planning to move into the new 6,800 square-foot strip mall.
The shopping center is home to a Burger King, Wendy’s and Moe’s Southwest Grill, in addition to clothing retailers T.J.Maxx and Lester’s, and an Equinox health club.
Kaplan said the strip mall, which is located on Northern Boulevard near the corner of Glen Cove Road, is expected to open by early fall.
The Florida-based Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza also has locations in Kabro-owned shopping centers in Carle Place and Woodbury.
Village of East Hills Trustee Peter Zuckerman said that when the proposed shopping center was first approved by the Town, Kabro associates “said there would be no food-related merchants” moving in.
“Any time you have a restaurant of that nature, there could be rats, there could be pollution,” Zuckerman said. “That shopping center is also a very high-traffic shopping center, and just for parking purposes, we’re concerned.”
Koblenz wrote that residents should write letters to the town if they were unable to attend the hearing.
“Glen Cove Road and Northern Boulevard are congested as it is, and the last thing you need are businesses that are going to create more congestion,” Koblenz said Friday. “There are already eateries there. You’ve got Wendy’s and Burger King, you’ve got Moe’s. You already have eateries in that area, and the parking lot can’t accommodate. If you drive by, you’ll see there’s no place to park. Also, you have the smell, and it affects the people who bought houses there.”
