UPDATED: Bellmore White Castle Rejected

Nearly 2.5 months after a Town of Hempstead Zoning hearing, hundreds of Bellmore residents finally got the answer they had been waiting and fighting for.

There will be no White Castle.

The board unanimously denied the application, said Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky, Hempstead's press secretary.

"As a community, we are ecstatic," said Matt Walden, a member of the Bellmore Preservation Group. "The community came together. Everybody worked together and had their voices heard." 

The group is made up of about 100 families who scraped together nearly $12,000 for legal fees and other costs to fight - and ultimately defeat - the White Castle. The Bellmore Preservation Group argued that the fast food shop would lead to increase in traffic, noise, litter and loitering.

Bellmore attorney Chris Benes of the firm Gold, Stewart, Kravatz & Benes, LLP, was the preservation group's attorney.

"It was a good, solid win," added Benes.

The hearing had been held on March 17 to address several needed variances if White Castle were to get its way to construct a building on the corner of St. Mark's Avenue and Sunrise Highway. White Castle was represented by Mineola attorney Thomas Pantelis.

As of 9:30 a.m. this morning, Pantelis had not officially received the decision and therefore would not comment. White Castle could apply for an appeal at the Supreme Court level, but that would have to be done within the next four months.

Three private homes, all currently rented and owned by longtime Bellmore resident Bill Sette, along with a Wick's Auto Body location, occupy the lots White Castle had hoped to take over. The site is zoned for commercial use, however White Castle was requesting variances for several items including:

• installation of two drive-thru windows
• waive off street parking
• special exception to construct refuse/recycle enclosure in conjunction with proposed restaurant
• special exception to park in front yards setbacks on Sunrise Highway, St. Mark's Avenue and Royle Street
• installation of one double-faced, illuminated, detached ground sign on the corner of Sunrise Highway and St. Mark's Avenue
• installation of one menu board sign (along drive-thru route)

The proposed site called for a 2,100 sq. ft. building with an all-white facade and an entrance/exit at Sunrise Highway. It would also have had a drive thru lane for customers and a car queue.