Sonic Officials Weighing Next Step for East Meadow

As the Sonic in North Babylon celebrates its one-year anniversary on Wednesday, franchise owner Spencer Hart has what to do in regards to the East Meadow property that he for.

Hart is currently weighing his options after the he submitted by the Hempstead Town Board of Zoning Appeals in March.

"We are evaluating what our next step should be," Chief Operating Officer Bob Fanelli told Patch in an email. "We are consulting with our team. Once we have a direction, we will let you know"

Hart was seeking approval for eight variance applications at 1900 Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow. These included special exceptions to install a drive-thru window and use a portion of the premise for outdoor dining, as well as variances for off-street parking. Additionally, they were asking for permission to install 24 menu board signs under two proposed canopies, install a drive-thru preview menu and regular menu board and install a speaker and confirmation screen system for the drive-thru.

Nat Krieger, who's a resident of East Meadow, told Patch that he had a Facebook exchange with the group that represents Sonic of Long Island. After Krieger pleaded with the popular food joint to not give up on an East Meadow location, he was met with the following response.

"We would love to come to East Meadow - but if you're familiar with what has happened there, it will be very hard for us to open at the location we had hoped to," Sonic representatives said.

Sonic could still potentially submit a modified proposal to the BZA for the property or they can appeal the BZA’s ruling. Hart's attorney, William S. Cohn, would not comment as to what his client's decision will be.

What do you think should be Spencer Hart's next move? Tell us in the comments.