Chick-Fil-A coming to East Meadow

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A special meeting of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. focused on the prospective arrival of a Chick-Fil-A to the community. The proposed restaurant would be on Hempstead Turnpike, east of Newbridge Road and adjacent to TD Bank.

Speaking at the meeting was Alfred Amato, Daniel Pedersen, the senior project manager, and Scott Goodson, the director of development and construction. They answered questions and revealed a site map of the area and what they expect for the property.

They expressed their desire to create a proper right-of-way along the marginal road in front of the existing storefronts so patrons could more easily turn left toward he property from Hempstead Turnpike.

Chick-Fil-A, which operates from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday through Saturday, has 2,500 restaurants and six on Long Island. All storefronts are locally owned and run.

As talk continued to circle around traffic, someone spoke and said, “We’ve been in the same room for Krispie Kreme, Stew Leonard’s and Sonic and it’s all traffic, traffic, traffic . . . but after they’re open a few days, it always dies down.”

While the speakers emphasized their commitment to improving the cleanliness and quality of the site, attendees were also concerned about the state of the surrounding parking lot where it would be built. Someone asked, “How do we know that will be taken care of too?”

If the construction of the restaurant is approved, the speakers said, the landlord of the property would be pressured to improve the surrounding area as the restaurant owners improve their share of the site.

CEMCO will be holding another meeting focusing on bail reform with guest speaker Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.