Residents’ petition opposing 7-Eleven: ‘We have a right to remain rural’

Fighting back against a proposed 7-Eleven in Aquebogue, residents are pledging not to shop at the national convenience store if it is built at a proposed location on Main Road.

“We have the right to remain rural,” reads the petition, which was emailed out to more than 500 residents after a meeting of civic associations and community leaders Saturday.

“National franchises have their place in any town, and ours are located on Route 58,” said Angela DeVito, president of the Jamesport-South Jamesport Civic Association. “Expanding them into those areas that still remain and still have the most rural quality of our town is a mistake.”

The petition was drafted in response to a proposed 7-Eleven in Vinland Commons, an Aquebogue shopping center on Main Road.

Many residents are deeply unhappy with the prospect of a 7-Eleven in an area of town that is still largely untouched by national chains, and protestors at a Town Hall meeting earlier this month argued that it would disrupt the area’s bucolic nature that is so beloved by residents and tourists alike.

“People come out this way because it’s countrified,” said Dorothy Muller, an Aquebogue resident, at a December 2 town board meeting. “They don’t come out here to see a Dunkin Donuts and 7-Eleven on every corner.”

Town officials have also been pushing back against the proposal, rejecting the 7-Eleven’s application to the building department last year. But a New York State Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of Vinland Commons in October, paving the way for the national convenience store chain to open its fifth location in Riverhead – and its first in the hamlet of Aquebogue.

The town is appealing the state’s decision, but residents want to make sure their opposition to the plan is loud and clear, DeVito said.

“We believe this is a way to have our voices heard in a different way,” she said.

In addition to a pledge not to shop at the proposed 7-Eleven, the petition also describes what kind of development is appropriate for the area of town east of Route 105 in a set of guidelines for landlords and developers.

At the top of the list: “Observe the letter and spirit of the Master Plan. ‘Rural Corridor Zone’ means a lot.”

“There can be development that is reasonable and fits within the vision of the Master Plan,” DeVito said. “It talks about our need to balance the quality of rural life with reasonable development.”

The petition defines reasonable development as that which adapts and reuses existing properties, rather than building anew. It will also “stick to homegrown brands, not national franchises.”

“We like business owners that live here,” the petition reads.

Finally, residents are asking developers to consider the impacts of new development on existing businesses.

“If you look at the Meetinghouse Deli, they’ve been here for generations,” DeVito said. “They’ve supported their families and other families in the community. They’ve done very well by the community.

“These are the sorts of things we believe create that quality of life we all sought when we came here and would like to maintain,” she added. Pledge-3