HUNTINGTON TOWN, New York – Two years ago, the Huntington Town board changed a code that imposed new regulations on free-standing convenience stores applications, the Long Island News Day reports. Now, the board is looking at more changes aimed at convenience stores within shopping centers. 

After the 2011 code change, 7-Eleven sued the town, claiming the new rules would “greatly impact 7-Eleven’s ability to construct new free-standing stores.” The board said the previous changes were triggered by a study of current convenience stores from the town planning department, which included resident comments as well as traffic, delivery and parking issues. 

The new rules would mandate that stores with less than 10,000 square feet that are in shopping centers to have a lot area of at least 25,000 square feet. Right now, the town has no such restrictions for convenience stores within shopping centers. A public hearing on the issue will be held in August.

“It basically all comes down to having the area to accommodate loading areas,” said Anthony Aloisio, director of the town's planning and environment department. Councilman Mark Cuthbertson sponsored the resolution with the proposed changes.

7-Eleven released a statement about the new proposal, saying that it is “aware that the Town is considering legislation that would include new restrictions on convenience store uses located within shopping centers. 7-Eleven reserves any further comments until the final legislation has been made public.”a