The gas station in Stewart Manor at the intersection of Covert and Tulip avenues likely undergo a major makeover in the next several months.
Nick Singh, who operates Nick’s Express Auto Repair on the property, said last week that he is working with the owner, Bradley King, on plans to renovate the location. He said he is currently negotiating with King for a long-term lease on the property.
“I’m going to take over but I need to improve the grounds,” Singh said. “We’ve got to renovate it completely.”
Singh said he has been subleasing the space for his repair shop on the property since 2009 from Izzet Cakci of IJC Gas Management, which operates the gas pumps that recently shut down.
Singh said the renovation will be a $500,000 project over several months that will entail replacing the existing gas tanks and pumps and fixing the leaking repair shop roof.
“I want to make it attractive,” Singh said.
He said the planned makeover will include removing several vehicles parked on a small open plot of land, also owned by King, on the south side of the property.
Alison Pratt, a Reed Avenue resident, complained about those vehicles at the most recent Stewart Manor Board of Trustees meeting. Pratt said she recently filed a complaint with the Nassau County Police Department about those vehicles, which she said had been parked on the property without license plates for the past several months. Her complaint drew a response, she said, as Nassau County police officers told her they had issued 26 tickets on those cars—with no tangible result.
“The tickets have been removed. The cars are still there,” she told the village trustees, adding. “That gas station is an eyesore.”
Stewart Manor Mayor Gerald Tangredi said the gas station is “in transition.” He said an employee in the repair shop recently told him of talks with the landlord for a new business that would include a “total renovation” of the property.
On another quality of life issue, the Stewart Manor board votes to revise monetary penalties for residents or commercial businesses that put garbage out for collection without covers on garbage containers. The penalty for a first offense remains $250 or 15 days in jail for a first offense. A second offense—committed within five years of a first offense—would draw a fine of $750 or 15 days in jail. A third offense would prompt a $1,500 fine or 15 days in jail.
The change in the local law comes on the heels of problems with uncovered garbage containers on the grounds of the apartment buildings on Covert Avenue and Tulip Avenue that drew rats, which also went foraging for food on residents’ properties adjacent to the apartment buildings.
But Tangredi said the change in the penalties was not aimed at potential violations on the apartment building properties or other commercial properties in the village.
“It’s village-wide really,” Tangredi said of the change that is intended as a “slight deterrent.”
He said the apartment buildings had been cited at some time in the recent past for improperly disposing garbage in open containers.
“We’re just trying to make sure the garbage is taken care of,” said Trustee Michael Onerato.
In other developments:
*The village board will waive a late filing fee of $150 for correction of home improvements not up to code. The one-year waiver, which takes effect in January, will enable homeowners who are selling or refinancing their homes an opportunity to correct improvements that fail to meet code standards, without incurring the $150 penalty.
