Levittown Ford Proposes New Business on Hempstead Turnpike

At the corner of Hempstead Turnpike and Grassy Lane sits an empty building and unused parking lot. The plot of land, directly across the turnpike from St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church, was once home to a Progress House, a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts.

An empty commercial lot on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown is a common sight these days, according to Levittown Chamber of Commerce President Ann Torcivia, who says there are 39 empty businesses along the main road within Levittown's borders.

"If we don't welcome new businesses, Levittown as a community will fold over," said Torcivia. "Hempstead Turnpike will become a ghost town."

Car dealership owner Randy Sporn thinks he and his brother Joel Sporn have a solution--for the Grassy Lane spot at least.

The Sporn brothers have grown up in the car business. They currently own the Westbury Jeep  Chrysler Dodge at 111 Bond Street in Westbury, which their father started in 1957, and the Grand Prix Chrysler Jeep at 500 South Broadway in Hicksville. Next, they have their eyes on Levittown.

Sporn shows photos of the grand new metal and glass facade that would replace the lack-luster brick and block, windowless wall that currently greets drivers heading down Hempstead Turnpike. In big, white letters against the gleaming silver reads "Levittown" with the classic Ford symbol. Around the perimeters are low, neat fences and well-groomed shrubbery.

"This is a great opportunity for me to serve the community and be a good neighbor," said Sporn. "This is a positive improvement for the community and the neighbors who have to look at this every day."

So what is the delay? In order to be able to use this location for the dealership, the Sporns need the land behind the building's plot in order to extend the parking lot. This space would hold 50 cars and without it Sporn says the land is of no value to him.

The land in question is residential property, however, and two houses would need to be knocked down. This has the Levittown Property Owners Association (LPOA) worried.

Jim Morrow, LPOA president, is concerned that if the precedent of turning residential property into commercial property is set on Grassy Lane, it could result in similar ventures all over town.

"We would support any industry as long as they're not asking for variances to down-zone from residential to commercial," said Morrow. 

One of the houses to be knocked down is boarded up and not in use, and the other is in poor condition. Morrow said a group of young people are currently renting it. He would be fine with knocking down the houses if new houses were to be built in their place, he said, but he does not want to see the land turned over to a business.

Morrow said other businesses such as HSBC and Madison Bank have asked to take Levittown's residential property for their use in the past few years, though the deals did not go through.

"If you give in to this guy, why can't you give in to the other guy?" Morrow asked. "Next time they could take the house next to you."

The Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals at 1 Washington Street in Hempstead will hear the case Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m. 

If the Sporns' plan is approved this month, the new Ford project will be put in motion and the dealership will aim to open this summer, said Sporn. No changes in size would be made to the current building, which would serve as the showroom, but it would be renovated inside and out and would take about six months, he said.

"It will look really pretty," Sporn said of the new building and lot.

Randy noted that parking for customers, employees and all cars on sale will be accommodated by the Ford parking lot. At the hearing on Wednesday he plans to ask for a ban on parking on the street along Grassy Lane.

"We don't need the space and it will be safer and cleaner this way," he said, adding that both the entrance and exit to the dealership will be on Hempstead Turnpike so no traffic will be directed through the residential neighborhood.

"We're not looking to change the world," said Randy, who noted that every house on Squirrel Lane, the street behind the potential dealership, has a backyard that borders on commercial property except for the house at the corner of Grassy Lane and Squirrel Lane. If the Sporns are permitted to buy the land they need, this house would now border commercial property just like its neighbors.

How do you feel about the proposed Levittown Ford dealership on Hempstead Turnpike and Grassy Lane? Leave a comment and let us know.