The Mineola Board of Trustees has voted to deny a special use permit to O’Carroll’s Recovery Room owner Jeremiah O’Carroll to expand his existing tavern business into an adjoining building to establish a take-out health shake store.
But the trustees left the door open for O’Carroll to expand the tavern into the adjoining space at last Wednesday’s board meeting.
“We thought it was a pretty good compromise for us. Bar areas are different than a takeout place,” said Village of Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss.
The village board voted 4-0 to deny the application of the business proposed for the Mineola Long Island Rail Road Station Plaza.
Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira abstained because he wasn’t present for the December permit application hearing.
In reading the board’s reasons for denying the application, village attorney John Spellman said patrons of the health shake business would likely park in illegally or double-park, creating a situation that “would be detrimental to the traffic circulation of the area and would be unsafe.”
He said the carry-out business would increase the number of vehicles seeking parking spaces in the station plaza which he described as “already fully congested and woefully deficient as to parking.”
“The board finds that the proposed carry-out food establishment will have a negative impact on the health, safety and welfare of the community,” Spellman said.
Spellman said the board has no objection to O’Carroll expanding his tavern business into part or all of the adjoining property at 212 Station Plaza. He said tavern patrons dine there and may park a distance from the restaurant, so the tavern and the take-out business have “totally different impacts” on parking and traffic.
“Many people don’t care what they do. They’ll just stop their car anywhere. It’s a very busy section of the village and a very important section of the village to keep traffic flowing,” said village Trustee Dennis Walsh.
At the December hearing O’Carroll said he leases the space the tavern occupies at 214 Station Plaza, but his landlord objects to him expanding the business into the adjacent 400 square foot space, which he said he has purchased.
“My wish would be to own 214 [Station Plaza] and do that,” O’Carroll said in response to a trustee’s suggestion at the hearing that he simply enlarge the tavern.
Attempts to reach O’Carroll for comment on the board’s decision were unavailing.
