The primary issue was traffic safety at a public hearing the New Hyde Park Village Board held on Tuesday night on a special-use permit for Ultra JT Inc. to expand a convenience store on its gas station site at 1501 Jericho Turnpike.
Plans for renovating the gas station at the intersection of Jericho and New Hyde Park Road would enlarge the existing convenience store on the site into two service bays, with a third service bay to be used for storage. The site plan presented by station owner Joseph Yaldiz also includes eight parking spaces to accommodate convenience store shoppers.
“We’re looking to get rid of the service bays and enlarge the convenience store,” said William DiConza, an attorney representing Yaldiz.
Village board members expressed concerns that increased traffic to the site could cause problems.
We’re concerned about whether the traffic would be too intense for the area,” Village of New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro said. “This board may have concerns about the [traffic] flow.”
Trustee Donald Barbieri said the gas station’s location is at an intersection that is particularly busy at certain times of the day.
“That’s when I would have a fear about traffic safety,” Barbieri said.
James Graham, a licensed engineer specializing in traffic safety, who had prepared a traffic study on behalf of Ultra for the board’s review, said convenience stores in gas station don’t produce a “significant increase in traffic” to the location.
“When you give cars fewer options, that makes it safer,” Graham said, referring to the proposed parking spaces.
But a site analysis produced by the New Hyde Park Building Department said, “The parking configuration as it is now proposed is unsafe.”
The analysis further stated that vehicle ingress and egress from the site and movement on it “present a dangerous and unworkable situation.”
Curb cuts at the gas station enable access to it for westbound traffic on Jericho and northbound traffic on New Hyde Park Road. But the building department analysis said observation revealed that westbound vehicles often enter the station at “less than minimal speed.” It also noted that northbound vehicles on New Hyde Park Road would have trouble entering the site if vehicles are “stacking” at the gas pumps on that side of the site.
While it acknowledged that the parking configuration is consistent with village code, the report said the plan “will not work.”
DiConza questioned the building department’s traffic expertise.
Lofaro said the analysis was based on observations of the site by members of the building department.
Graham disagreed with the analysis.
“It’s not going to be any more dangerous than it is today,” Graham said. “Yes, it’s not an ideal site. But it is going to be improved. From a traffic perspective, this is an acceptable site plan.”
Barbieri asked whether the owner would agree to a covenant to not sell beer on the site. DiConza said the store had no plans to sell beer at the site.
Resident Serafina Stassen, whose house abuts the gas station property on New Hyde Park Road, said she was concerned about the increased activity on the site.
“I’ve been living here 49 years. I don’t have to deal with this,” she said.
The board ultimately voted unanimously to reserve decision and refer the application to the Nassau County Planning Commission, which must pass on the convenience store plan before the board takes a definitive vote on it.
In other developments:
• Barbieri said the village is close to gaining state Department of Transportation approval for the final phase of its street and sidewalk makeover for the village business zone along Jericho Turnpike.
• Lofaro said the village expects to receive $7,500 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair the fence along the Long Island Railroad tracks that was damaged during the post-Christmas blizzard earlier this year.
• The board scheduled a public hearing on July 19 to consider a request for a change in the parameters of a commercial loading zone on Second Avenue between 4th and 5th Streets.
• The board set a date of Sept. 17 for the village’s 16th annual street fair, with a rain date of Sept. 24.
