If McDonald's ever manages to sell a Big Mac in Port Washington, residents say, the phrase "clogged arteries" will take on new meaning.
Putting a restaurant on the proposed site would nearly double the number of vehicles on the area's main arteries according to a study by the fast-food chain itself, said Myron Blumenfeld, chairman of Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington, an environmental group representing 1,000 families.
"The traffic is horrendous," he said. "It's above-normal traffic now and already a serious hazard. We're not anti-McDonald's, but this just isn't the place for it."
The chain wants to build a restaurant at the corner of Main Street and Port Washington Boulevard. But before it can, the company must get a variance-from the North Hempstead Board of Zoning and Appeals-allowing a restaurant in a commercial zone.
|
Another unappetizing aspect of the site, from Blumenfeld's point of view, is that it abuts a property formerly used by a dry cleaner, where the state Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the extent of a spill of trichloroethane, a solvent known to affect the central nervous system. One study found minute levels of the solvent beneath the basement of the proposed restaurant. |
The Board of Zoning and Appeals will hear public comment on McDonald's application for a variance on Wednesday at North Hempstead Town Hall. The meeting is to begin at 9:30 a.m., but the board is not expected to begin the hearing on the restaurant until after noon.