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The developer of the Best Market shopping center in Shirley is going before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals today seekings approvals for a new Sonic Drive-In burger restaurant.
The proposed restaurant would be on the far west side of the plaza, at 800 Montauk Highway, in what’s currently an empty part of the parking lot.
Gould Shirley Real Estate Corp., of 60 Cutter Mill Rd., Suite 303, in Great Neck, is requesting reduced front-yard setback and a reduced minimum natural landscaped area. The developer is also seeking permission for a total of seven wall signs and is proposing that all exterior lighting be fully shielded fixtures (green LED awning strips and yellow and red LED canopy stars are proposed.
Mark Lundy, president of Gould Shirley Real Estate Corp., said he believes the company has responded to any concerns the ZBA brought up at the initial April 24 hearing, and that he hopes the restaurant is approved today.
“This is the unutilized northwest corner of the area. Longer term, the goal is to improve the center. This is a start,” Lundy said.
Sonic officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Best Market, the plaza’s anchor tenant, will be transitioning to a Lidl in 2020. Lidl’s store format is different, and the company is currently exploring whether it can find a tenant for up 22,000 square feet.
The Sonic proposal will be taken up at 4 p.m. at Brookhaven Town Hall, at 1 Independence Plaza in Farmingville. New public hearings will start at 2 p.m.
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There are currently four other Sonic locations on Long Island: in East Meadow, Nesconset, North Babylon and Valley Stream.
Sonic would join a crowded fast-food environment.
There is a Checker’s and KFC in the Best Market shopping center, and across the street on William Floyd Parkway is a Taco Bell, Wendy’s. On the north side of Montauk Highway is a Boston Market.
Lundy said Sonic is a step up from a McDonald’s, which is about a mile down the road on Montauk Highway, and that the company’s goal was to lease a pad site, which operations like banks aren’t opening. “So this is a good use of that space.”
