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Business & Tech

Residents Share Thoughts on Sonic at Civic Meeting

The hot subject spurred a lively debate at the first public Merrick Avenue Civic Association meeting.

East Meadow residents once again made their voices heard on a topic that has been widely talked about in the community over the past few months – Sonic Drive-In.

Concerns of parking, traffic and safety regarding surrounding bars were the topic of discussion at Merrick Avenue Civic Association’s first public meeting. No Sonic representative was present at the meeting.

Merrick Avenue Civic Association President Pat Maher said that she had a lot of concern when she initially heard about Sonic coming to town.

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"I called the man that owns the Sonic -- Spencer Hart -- and I asked if he would like to come speak at the organization, or come and speak with the community and get his name out there,” said Maher, adding that he declined the invitation because he was going to be out of town.

Hart sent an information packet to Maher to be distributed at the meeting. According to the packet Hart provided, a 25-year lease has been signed for the location.

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“We will occupy an area of the center that has been vacant and will eliminate any vagrancy that had previously existed in that location,” the packet stated.

Maher said that one of her biggest issues is the two bars near the location. People will be drinking in the vicinity and could intermingle with teenagers hanging out at Sonic, she added.

"I feel that the bars are there and the kids are going to be hanging around and they are going to come out and want to intermingle," Maher said. “These people who have been drinking…and the kids are going to be there.”

"Your problem is not going to be Sonic, it is the two other bars," an East Meadow resident said. “Your problem is the way they have traffic moving on Hempstead Turnpike.”

Another resident, who lives near the location, said that the bars are "mobbed" on Friday and Saturday night, with the lot filling up to the Modell's Sporting Goods section.

"Where are all of those people going to park now that there is no parking? They are going to park on the blocks where people live," the resident stated.

Rebecca, a traffic engineer, spoke during the public discussion about the traffic concerns. She said “you put the Sonic in, you don’t put the Sonic in, the traffic conditions on Hempstead Turnpike are going to be exactly the same – they are not going to notice a difference.”

“I happen to be very in favor of the Sonic restaurant going in, because, for me, a good place for a restaurant, and a very solid nationwide franchise, is in an under utilized shopping center where I do think there usually is parking,” she added.

According to the packet provided by Hart, the site is to be self-contained. Stated in the packet, “If we initially experience customer overflow, we use Sonic parkers to manage the situation without disrupting the surrounding area.”

Sonic is scheduled to appear in front of the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on March 7 to seek variances for the proposed location at East Meadow Plaza. This comes after two prior hearing , including of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce.

Residents raised concerns about the owner of the East Meadow Sonic franchise not being present at the meeting. Maher said that she would push to have Hart meet with the community before the March 7 BZA hearing to discuss concerns.

"I am going to ask him to meet with us before March 7,” she said. “We will find a place, I’ll get the word out and we will get those answers.”

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