North Hempstead Town lawyers to resume prosecution of towing company

North Hempstead Town attorneys plan to return to court on Friday to resume prosecution of a New Hyde Park gas station that allegedly illegally towed vehicles and stored large trucks.

Judges had halted the town's plans to prosecute 91 active violations because the company, Lakeville Towing, had sought to effectively "legalize" the towing portion of the business before the town's zoning board of appeals, said Mitchell Pitnick, senior deputy town attorney.

Town spokeswoman Carole Trottere said a change in use variance the company requested from the town's zoning board of appeals would have enabled the company to tow and store vehicles, be "a tow truck company and have overnight storage of vehicles."

But representatives for the towing company dropped the change in use request at Wednesday's zoning board meeting, which was attended by neighbors opposing the gas station. Zoning board members then said they would drop the case "with prejudice," meaning the applicant is barred from coming back before the board on the issue, Pitnick said.

Town officials allege Lakeville Towing did not have the authority to tow trucks and park big rigs on local streets in the past two years. Other alleged violations include overnight storage of vehicles and sign violations, officials said.

The prosecution of the alleged violations is expected to resume in First District Court in Hempstead at 9 a.m. Friday. Lakeville Towing, also known as Full Service Auto, has 63 violations; and the company's landlord, 132 F Realty Corp., has 28, officials said.

An attorney for Lakeville Towing could not be reached for comment.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.