The North Hempstead Town Board voted to pave a way for a Port Washington grocery store to expand and renovate at its meeting last week.

The board’s members unanimously voted to eliminate a covenant at 319-374 Port Washington Blvd., which houses Uncle Giuseppe’s Market, that affected the western side of the property, and to change the zone where the covenant was from Parking to Business A, Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte (D-Port Washington) said in a newsletter to her constituents after the April 22 meeting, held via Zoom.

“By removing this covenant Uncle Giuseppe’s Market will be able to expand its store,” Dalimonte wrote.

Among the proposed changes following the covenant’s dissolution are the addition of a closed trash compactor, full finishes on all four sides of the building, and some changes to the inside, modeled after the company’s North Babylon location, albeit smaller to fit the Port store’s 20,000 square feet. New construction would also extend from the current building to receive trucks of merchandise.

At a previous meeting, surrounding residents had expressed concern over noise of the trash compactors being added at the site, but project architect Miguel Weinstein said at the meeting that the machines would be placed in a closed space.

“We have listened to neighbors’ concerns, and that’s why we’re installing a new cell phone thing on a compactor container attached to the building,” he said. “This will result in less noise and will minimize the odors [from garbage]. We also have created an attachment to receive merchandise directly into the building, reducing the time required. That means also less noise.”

Weinstein said that the new parking area would be bordered by plantings to create a “green buffer.”

Philip DelPrete, president of Uncle Giuseppe’s and a co-owner of the company, was also on the call, and said that renovations would take “maybe a week or two” if the store closed to accommodate construction.

“We didn’t want to inconvenience the customers and close for years so we plan on building the expansion in hopefully, we all lose maybe, if we close, maybe a week or two,” DelPrete said. “But I really think that’d be a great addition to the neighborhood to bring the variety and upgrade the store. We love the neighborhood. I’ve been working on this project for three years, and we have a lot  invested in it between the loss of rent, and all the studies we’ve been doing. So, with COVID and everything we’ve gone through, I know we got pushed back, but we want to make a decision here whether we’re gonna move forward with this project or not. And we think it’s going to be great for the neighborhood.”