By Joe Rizza

The Village of Mineola Board of Trustees is in the process of finalizing its decision to allow a CVS store to be erected on the Reese Buick property, located on Jericho Turnpike between Emory and Andrews Road.

After testimony taken on three separate nights during a public hearing, the board voted by a 3-2 margin to approve the project on a March 21 board work session.

The plan approved calls for a CVS to be erected on the Reese Buick property with an entrance and exit on Jericho Turnpike. Vehicles traveling westbound on Jericho can make a left into the site. For those traveling eastbound, CVS must apply to the New York State Department of Transportation, since Jericho Turnpike is a state road, for a left-hand turn lane into the site.

During the hearing, much of the discussion revolved around how the store would impact traffic on the residential streets of Andrews and Emory Roads. As a result, the board approved a plan that calls for no entrance on Emory Road.

Vehicles can only exit the site on Emory and head southbound toward Jericho. Motorists would therefore be forbidden from making a left out of the site onto Emory and traveling northbound through the residential area.

As far as Andrews Road goes, it will serve as neither an entrance nor an exit for customers. However, CVS estimates that once per week, a delivery truck will have to enter on Emory Road and exit on Andrews Road.

Discussion during the hearing also centered on the location of a garbage dumpster for the store. The plan the board approved calls for the garbage to be stored in a walled and gated facility, located to the west of the building in the front. Gates will have to be closed at all times and there will be a side door to the facility.

Interestingly enough, the board's vote to approve the plan was not unanimous. Mineola Mayor John P. Colbert and trustees Elizabeth Conlon and Linda Fairgrieve voted in favor of the plan whereas Deputy Mayor Lou Santosus and trustee Maryanne Warnecke voted it down.

Another motion was made to have the store's customers enter and exit the site only on Jericho Turnpike. Santosus and Warnecke voted in favor of that plan, but it was defeated by a 2-3 margin.

Mayor Colbert doesn't believe the CVS would have approved a plan that had only an entrance and exit on Jericho Turnpike. The mayor also believes the plan will not affect traffic on Emory and Andrews Roads because store customers will not be able to enter on Emory or Andrews and exit only toward Jericho Turnpike on Emory.

Although the board and residents voiced concerns during the public hearing, the mayor felt satisfied those concerns were answered and the property will finally be developed.

"Something had to be done on that block. It was blighted with Reese Buick there. I tried to get as much information from the residents as possible. This went for three separate hearings. Some of the residents felt they would have no objection to an exit on Emory," Colbert said.

If the Department of Transportation doesn't approve the left-hand turn lane on Jericho, CVS representatives would have to come back to the village board for reconsideration, said village attorney John Spellman.

If the Department of Transportation decides to approve the left-hand turn lane and CVS decides to accept the village's conditions, the plan will go forward.