No need for a run for the border to get a taco fix.
The site of a former White Castle restaurant on Route 110 in Melville will soon be the home of a Taco Bell.
Last month Taco Bell of America LLC received site plan approval from the Town of Huntington Planning Board for a restaurant at 540 Walt Whitman Rd.
The plan calls for the existing vacant building to be demolished and a Taco Bell with a drive-through window and outdoor seating built to replace it.
The 2,430 square foot building will be built on the 1.045 acre parcel, with an improved layout to accommodate the drive through, town officials said.
The restaurant will be able to accommodate 50 indoor diners and have seating for 12 diners outside.
Taco Bell of America LLC applied to the town’s zoning board of appeals Dec. 10, 2020, town officials said. A zoning board hearing was held Feb. 11, 2021 to request special use permits for the drive through restaurant and outdoor dining area, and variances regarding parking spaces and signage. The board approved those requests later that month.
The location, on the east side of Walt Whitman Road had been used on at least one occasion last fall as a pop-up Donald Trump paraphernalia site, with merchandise of the former president spread out on tables on the front lawn of the vacant building.
Town officials said there was no formal tracking of how long a building had been empty, but the previous tenant passed their final annual Fire Marshal inspection in 2019.
Town officials said the applicant must now go to the building department for permits.
