COMMUNITY NEWS

Wantagh cabaret decision pending

Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals hosts 14-hour hearing

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After hearing 14 hours of testimony on Oct. 13, the Hempstead Town Board of Zoning Appeals will determine the fate of a proposed cabaret in Wantagh.

William Stephen Dean, better known as Billy Dean, and Rori Gordon purchased a building at 3500 Sunrise Highway, near the Oakland Avenue intersection, in 2009. Since then, the property has been the focus of many legal disputes and protests, which residents and Dean’s legal counsel alike said they hope would end after Dean’s application to open a club with “live music, dancing and entertainment” on the site is either approved or denied.

Erica Dubno, an attorney representing Green 2009 Inc., Dean’s parent company, said that Dean was initially granted a special-use, five-year permit for a cabaret seven years ago. The BZA, however, reopened the case in 2011 and the license was denied. State Sen. Michael Venditto, a Republican from Massapequa who was a town attorney when the case was heard, said the board’s decision was upheld by the State Appellate Division in 2014 and affirmed by the State Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state.

Dean filed a federal suit against the Town of Hempstead in 2014, claiming that the denial of the application for a cabaret license violated his civil rights. The BZA heard the case again last week, Dubno explained, after U.S. District Judge John Gleeson found that the board’s determination was not final because “Billy Dean’s had not provided a full enough record for them to determine the type of entertainment that was going to be offered.”

Howard D. Avrutine, another attorney for Dean, said the cabaret would feature a range of performers, from sword-swallowers to jugglers, knife throwers and magicians. One witness Avrutine presented — Michael Chaut, producer of Monday Night Magic, New York’s longest-running Off-Broadway magic show — said that Dean contacted him before he purchased the Wantagh building to ask about securing such entertainment. 

At the hearing, Avrutine said that the applicants’ reserve the right to offer any type of legal entertainment they wish at the site. Dubno previously told the Herald that the owners said they would not offer any kind of “topless/bottomless/nude entertainment” on the premises. 

In an interview outside the public hearing, Heather Donahue, 40, a lifelong Wantagh resident, said she feared that a Wantagh cabaret would resemble Billy Dean’s Showtime Café in North Bellmore. 

“It’s hard to have faith when [Billy Dean’s is] hosting events called Spanksgiving,” Donahue said, referring to a Nov. 26, 2014, event advertised on its website. “Whatever you want to open, that’s fine — just pick the appropriate location for the business. Wantagh is a very family-oriented town.” 

Billy Dean’s Showtime Café advertises lap dances on its website. A disclaimer at the bottom of the homepage states that “‘dancers appear on our stage in their costumes, which are g-string and pasties, and do not disrobe.” 

Donahue helped to collect more than 2,000 signatures from residents of Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa and other communities opposing the cabaret. She first heard about the application this summer, and said she was immediately worried about the impact that cabaret would have in the community, particularly for children who live on Oakland Avenue.

At an Oct. 1 protest, Edith Morabito, a mother of two and an Oakland Avenue resident, said that she worries about Billy Dean’s potential hours of operation and a proposal to serve alcohol there.

Noting that there is a bus stop steps away where Wantagh elementary, middle school and high school students are dropped off at different times of day — and that the cabaret may be open between 11 a.m. and 4 a.m. seven days a week — Morabito said she was concerned that children could be injured or killed by drunken drivers coming from the establishment.

“I’m a pediatric emergency room nurse — I see what happens,” she said of drunken-driving crashes. “It’s a huge, huge safety concern for our kids.”

Nassau County Legislator Steve Rhoads, a Wantagh native who now lives in Bellmore, agreed, saying that was why he, Venditto and State Assemblyman David McDonough were supporting residents by writing letters, distributing petitions and speaking out.

At the hearing, Rhoads cited statistics that he obtained from the Nassau County Police Department. He told the BZA that there were 380 auto accidents along Sunrise Highway, between Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh and Seamans Neck Road in Seaford, between Jan. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2016 — including 52 at the Oakland Avenue intersection.

Rhoads said that he worries about the safety of civilians, motorists and potential patrons who may park in the neighborhood or in Long Island Rail Road lots across the street when coming to and from the cabaret. “This will be especially dangerous during nighttime hours, when visibility is reduced and when patrons’ reactions and judgment may be compromised due to alcohol,” he said. “When faced with the choice of parking on a residential street or putting your life at risk attempting to cross Sunrise Highway from the Long Island Rail Road parking lot, it’s reasonable to assume that most patrons will choose to occupy the residential neighborhood.”

Before the hearing, Dubno questioned local elected officials’ involvement in the case, saying that it was unfair that former Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray had been allowed to speak before Dean’s representatives at previous zoning board meetings. Rhoads said that Dean is also suing him, Venditto and McDonough.

“If Mr. Dean felt as though he was going to be able to intimidate elected officials like me for doing my job and defending the people in our community, he’s sadly mistaken,” Rhoads said. “It is my job, as I think [the business is] going to have an impact on the surrounding community. Not every commercial business is right for every commercial location.”

Rhoads commended community members who stayed at the hearing from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. He and Donahue said they were disappointed that, because Avrutine and the applicants took several hours to present a case, many residents were unable to stay and make their opinions known to the board.

David Weiss, the BZA chairman, told a crowd of about 50 people at noon that if they had to leave before they had a chance to speak, they could submit an email to the board before 2 p.m. Rhoads estimated that more than 200 people opposed to the cabaret sent messages.

Board members noted that they would visit the site before making their decision.