After hearing concerns from residents and community organizations about the dead foliage surrounding the Circuit City store in Hicksville, its proprietors have removed the wilted plantings and re-landscaped the site.

The issue first came about late last year when Nassau County Legislator Judith Jacobs was approached by representatives from the Northwest Civic Association, the Midland Civic Association and numerous residents from the residential area surrounding the store. They were inquiring if there was anything that could be done about the site's appearance.

Acting on their concerns she drafted a letter to the management of the store requesting them to replace the dead landscaping with new shrubberies and plantings.

According to Jacobs, the matter was addressed within two months of that original letter, dated Nov. 6. The wilted trees and shrubs that had become somewhat of an eyesore for the local residents were replaced by new shrubs and other plantings.

"In an extremely short length of time they got rid of all the dead foliage and replanted and I am very impressed with their responsiveness," said Jacobs.

She continued to point to several occasions in the past where the company has responded quickly to concerns stemming from the residential area surrounding the establishment. Last year residents became upset after seeing large delivery trucks jumping the curb of a residential street to access the loading docks instead of going through the parking lot. After being apprised of the problem, the store quickly assured residents the problem would be remedied and barriers were installed so the trucks could no longer access the facility in that way.

"In each case I did not feel that knowledge on their part that something was going wrong fell on deaf ears," said Jacobs.

Jacobs indicated that the relationship between a large business, such as Circuit City, and the residential community in which it is located can be tenuous, but it does not have to be if the channels of communication are left open.

"Whenever you have business in the middle of a residential community there are things are that going to happen as time goes on that could cause problems," said Jacobs. "But the bottom line is, if there is cooperation on both sides you will have a very easy fix ahead of you and I really do believe that they [Circuit City] have established a good line of communication with the community."

She continued, "My experience with them since they have gone in there is that any problem that has come from the community they have been very willing to attack and solve.