The Town of Oyster Bay board heard the application of Doherty Bread, LLC, Panera Bread lessee of a portion of the premises and C&B Realty #3, fee owner, for a special use permit to construct a 1,626 square foot addition to a building in an existing shopping center to allow a restaurant with a permitted occupancy of 165 persons in a Neighborhood Business District.

The store, currently vacant, is located at 439-441 South Oyster Bay Road, on the corner of Woodbury Road in Plainview in the Woodbury Plaza shopping center, currently occupied by stores such as Bed Bath and Beyond, Victoria's Secret, Men's World, The Gap and Trader Joe's.

According to a town rule, applicants must inform all neighbors within a certain distance from the site in question when and where a meeting is taking place. Some neighbors were not informed of Tuesday's town board meeting with enough notice, so the supervisor decided to hold the meeting on Tuesday and also continue it at a later date, which was agreed on by the applicant and the residents who were in attendance.

Panera Bread is a casual dining eatery and bakery. Bread is baked fresh on the premises every day. The hours of operation are from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Panera Bread is applying for a special use permit to add 1,626 square feet to make the total lot size 4,800 square feet. The number of parking spaces required by code is 599 and Panera Bread, after the addition, would have 576 - 23 short of the number required. A traffic engineer later testified and explained that he thought the 576 parking spaces were more than enough spaces to accommodate Panera Bread's customers.

According to the presentation made to the town board, the intensity of customers is spread out throughout the day. The busiest hours are from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., with 40 percent of clientele visiting then. From 6 - 11 a.m., 20 percent of the customers visit and the remaining 40 percent are at the store between 2 and 10 p.m.

There are three main deliveries coming into Panera Bread, something that concerned some local residents in attendance. Dough is delivered seven days a week between 2 - 6 p.m. in a box truck. This is a 15-minute operation. Prepared foods are delivered three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, between 7 and 10 a.m. This is a one-hour delivery and can include milk. Produce is delivered three times a week between 7 and 10 a.m. The last truck that comes is a pick up. Whatever bread is not sold at the end of the day, Island Harvest, a food rescue organization, comes to the front entrance and picks up the extra bread donated by Panera Bread. Councilman Anthony Macagnone questioned if these hours were set in stone and officials from Panera Bread said they are flexible.

Some residents were also concerned about the noise a dumpster would make behind the store, directly behind their homes. Officials from Panera Bread offered to install a walk-in, five-cubic yard, cooler that is locked and sealed to store the garbage. They would only need to have a separate dumpster for cardboard, which is required by law.

A traffic expert from Nelson Pope testified that he supports the application. According to his analysis, Panera Bread would generate less traffic than most tenants who could occupy the store as-of-right.

There were 12 local residents in attendance against the project as their house is located next to the store and they brought a petition signed by 23 more people asking the town to turn down the request for a special use permit. They have problems with other stores in the shopping center and said that Panera Bread would just make their problems worse. They are concerned about the timing of deliveries and the noise that they will generate.

A follow-up meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at Oyster Bay Town Board. Those who were not able to attend this Tuesday's meeting will have the opportunity to address the board with their questions and concerns.