Representatives from Herricks Mineola LLC came before the village board of trustees Wednesday night for a hearing on an application for a special use permit to construct a bank.

The plan calls for Gensel's to relocate to the nearby shopping center, which contains the new Panera Bread, which is scheduled to open Aug. 23, a laundromat and a Duane Reade. A Commerce Bank would then be constructed east of Herricks Road just south of Clarissa Road.

Gensel's has long been a landmark in Mineola. It is located at the western end of the village on the north side of Jericho Turnpike. Owner Justin Gensel said his family is looking forward to the move to the shopping center.

With the move, Gensel's will save on maintenance and overhead. However, Mr. Gensel believes the new location will ultimately be better for customers. The new location for Gensel's will be the basement and first floor of a portion of the shopping center. Mr. Gensel said the move would involve moving the inside of Gensel's to the new location. Customers would recognize the store even in its new location.

However, the move by Gensel's was not the issue before the board of trustees last week. The application called for the construction of the proposed 4,243 square foot Commerce Bank in the 23,500 square foot shopping center.

Hours for the bank would be Monday through Friday from 7:20 a.m. to 8:10 p.m., 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

The plan calls for the bank to have four drive-thru windows and an ATM machine that will be located on the inside of the bank. It is estimated there will be 12 to 15 employees for the bank.

Mr. Gensel, whose family sold the Gensel's building and property to Herricks Mineola LLC, believes the neighborhood is calling for the change to the area.

Being that Gensel's will no longer be the western most landmark for the village, the owner of the property is pledging to reserve a 20 foot by 20 foot parcel of land on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Herricks Road to be used as an area that signifies the entrance to the village.

While the proposal seemed to be an improvement to the area, some residents did have concerns about it. Some residents wanted to know why the proposed bank wasn't going to be located in a more southerly direction, toward Jericho Turnpike. However, one benefit to having the bank proposed more north is that it will act as a buffer to the residential areas to the north with the parking to the south, although some believe the reason it is being built towards the north is to make room for another establishment in the future.

Other concerns included traffic flow in and out of the site as well as traffic flow within the site. Residents who live north of Clarissa Road and also for the houses on Beebe Road such as 294 and 290 Beebe have had to deal with some dirty conditions.

Indeed, the shopping center and its parking lots including the lot north of Clarissa Road that abuts residential homes and the property adjacent to Beebe Road is in need of sprucing up. Also, the fence along Beebe Road has been deteriorating with garbage in front of it. Resident Donna Strein expressed disappointment that the plan does nothing to beautify the area for residents.

According to the application, the parking lots will be re-paved and slats for the fence along Beebe Road will be replaced.