The New York State Court of Appeals on Sept. 1 nixed a Mineola Village Board appeal of an April 29 reversal of a October 2012 village decision by an appellate court that denied 7-Eleven’s plan to build a storefront at 400 East Jericho Tpke. in Mineola. The plan must now be put back before Mineola for approval.
“Unfortunately, our appeal was not taken and the decision of the Appellate Division stands as final,” Mayor Scott Strauss said in a letter to Jay Court residents last Wednesday. The street directly abuts the property the store would stand. “The board of trustees will not review the record in this matter and will comply with the court’s directive.”
The Appellate Division of the Second Judicial Department overturned a Supreme Court order in April that scuttled the store’s project, citing the village did not hire an expert to refute Garden City-based Amato Law Group’s testimony. Amato represents 7-Eleven. They did not return calls for comment.
“We vigorously defended our position and were successful in [2012],” Strauss said.
The ruling last week comes after multiple court appearances by Mineola and 7-Eleven, most recently in May 2015 when the village board filed a motion to appeal the second department’s decision. The department said in an April court document “based on their belief that the convenience store’s clientele would be unsavory, and that the presence of the proposed store would exacerbate existing traffic congestion. No expert evidence was provided in opposition to the petitioners’ expert evidence.”
In March 2012, the village board at the time argued the plan’s denial based on possible traffic hazards, insufficient delivery space and impact to Jay Court residents. This preceded a October 2011 public hearing, where Jay Court homeowners were out in full force to oppose the project. In October 2012, 7-Eleven lost a battle in court attempting to get the village board ruling overturned.
“We are heartened to know that we all did the best we could do what we all believed was the right thing for Mineola,” Strauss stated.
The appellate division’s reversal earlier this year puzzled Mineola residents.
“The arrogance of the courts is out of control,” Jim Plunkett said in May. “[The village board] as I understand, is a viable, political entity. You make a decision. You’re there to represent Mineola and a court says ‘no, you have no standing.’ The issue here is local control and these courts keep telling us what to do.”
