In a more muted and less contentious—not to mention much shorter—public hearing on the fate of the controversial Taco Bell on Old Country Road, the Westbury Board of Trustees confirmed that fast food restaurant will now close at 10 p.m.instead of 2 a.m. until it can meet the terms of its special use permit. The hearing was held at the board’s meeting on Thursday, March 5.
Taco Bell counselor Micheal Zapson requested adjourning the hearing until the next meeting in April so that his client could complete the plan on improvements requested by the board, addressing the issues of noise, garbage and late-night parking lot activity.
“We voluntarily agree to close at 10 p.m. until we’ve submitted all of the required documentation,” Zapson said. “However, these hours will not be sustainable as we’ll have to lay people off and cut working hours.”
Village Mayor Peter Cavallaro said that while the board appreciated Taco Bell agreeing to close at 10 p.m., the restaurant doesn’t really have a choice in the matter at present as its special use permit has expired.
“It’s incumbent upon your client to provide the necessary documentation to renew the special use permit, but your client never did,” Cavallaro said. “And they basically ignored every condition of the permit, which led to residents’ complaints.”
Cavallaro added that the board “dropped the ball” by not noticing the restaurant’s failure to apply for permit renewal until the complaints started rolling in.
“We take the noise and garbage complaints very seriously, and we’re addressing the issues by patrolling the parking lot and checking our cameras,” Zapson said. “So far we feel that the complaints are unsubstantiated.”
Whereas an onslaught of residents’ complaints against the Taco Bell filled the air for a substantial chunk of time at the previous two hearings, a lone grievance was cast during this round by resident Toni Smiles, who rebutted the counselor’s claims of unsubstantiated complaints before quickly departing.
Palpable was the relief in the room for moving on—at least for now—from the Taco Bell debacle that has consumed so much oxygen as of late.
Then Cavallaro put the relief into words when after noting plans for upgrades to the village’s community center and a park from state aid, he said, “We’re looking forward to a great year and getting a lot of things accomplished in spring and summer.”
