A new CVS store has opened on the north side of Jericho Turnpike between Andrews and Emory Roads. The store replaced the Reese Buick car dealership that had ceased operation approximately three and a half years ago.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday and was attended by each member of the Mineola board of trustees - Deputy Mayor Lou Santosus and trustees Elizabeth Conlon, Linda Fairgrieve and Jack Martins - as well as Mayor John P. Colbert.

The plan to demolish the old Reese Buick structure and erect the new CVS was approved last year. The plan called for the new store to be accessed with an entrance only on Jericho Turnpike and exit onto Jericho Turnpike and Emory Road. However, vehicles are only permitted to exit southbound on Emory toward Jericho and away from the residential area. A truck making deliveries would enter on Emory and exit on Andrews Road after making the delivery in the back of the store.

The project was approved by a 3-2 margin as Mayor Colbert and trustees Conlon and Fairgrieve voted in favor of it. Deputy Mayor Santosus and then trustee Maryanne Warnecke voted in favor of a plan that called for an exit and entrance only on Jericho Turnpike.

All trustees, however, voted in favor of having CVS take over the Reese Buick property. "Something had to be done on that block. It was blighted with Reese Buick there," said Mayor Colbert at the time the board approved the plan.

There is no doubt the property is cleaner and more visually appealing than it had been when the abandoned car dealership was there. However, a concern among some residents of Emory Road is that motorists will ignore the "no left turn" sign and will make a left out of CVS onto Emory to avoid Jericho Turnpike. If such a situation arises, the north side of Emory Road could see an increase in traffic.

The curbs at the exit of CVS onto Emory were constructed in a way that discourages making a left onto Emory. However, motorists can easily ignore the sign and make the left unless a car is parked across the street. The manager of the CVS store will park his car across the street to further discourage cars from making a left. However, turning left is still not impossible.

For Harold Reese, Jr., the owner of the site who will lease the property to CVS, the opening of the store meant the end of an era. Reese remembers the beginnings of construction of the dealership in 1948 when he was a boy. Reese Buick had seen its share of success, becoming the number six Buick dealership in the country in the 1950s, said Mr. Reese. However, the dealership closed over three years ago because of increased competition among car dealers.