Town wants to turn Capri Motor Inn into rec center

Hempstead town officials are continuing their legal battle against L&S Realty, the owners of Capri Motor Inn, as they try to make the West Hempstead business government property.

If their pursuit of eminent domain succeeds, officials say they would turn the troubled motel into an indoor recreation facility.

Officials didn’t present a specific plan on what they would do with the 434 Hempstead Turnpike property during a meeting last January, and they didn’t need to, according to town special counsel Allan Hyman. The government taking over a problematic business like Capri is inherently public use, he said, citing a legal precedent that defines public use as “any use which contributes to the health, safety, general welfare, convenience or prosperity of the community.”

A public use is integral to the validity of an eminent domain claim, according to state and federal law.

But there is just as much legal precedent for the exact opposite, argued Christian Browne, representing the owners of Capri Motor Inn. In a different eminent domain case in New York, the court ruled there must be a specified plan for the property, or else any “public use” is purely speculative.

“In simple terms,” Browne said, “the government cannot take your land and then decide later what to do with it.”

But at some point between the meeting in January and the town meeting last week, it appears Hempstead officials have figured out what they would do with the property.

They want to demolish the existing building and construct in its place an indoor recreational facility for sports like basketball and volleyball. Most of the town’s indoor rec centers are geared toward activities like swimming and diving, so this facility would fill the need for other activities, they said.

It would be particularly beneficial for residents of West Hempstead, said John Ellsworth, a senior associate for the environmental planning firm providing counsel to town officials.

Two of the four town parks within a mile of Capri — Garden City South Park, in Garden City, and Roth Park Pool, in Franklin Square — are in special park districts and are therefore not available to West Hempstead neighbors. The other two parks — Cherry Valley Ball Field in Garden City, and Echo Park in West Hempstead — are available to all town residents. But none of these facilities belong specifically to the residents of West Hempstead.

On top of that, those facilities are focused on outdoor recreation. The proposed center would also have the benefit of being within walking distance for the residents surrounding Capri, Ellsworth said.

“The board has the power to determine that this was a public nuisance,” Hyman said. “And the remediation to that nuisance is a public use under the eminent domain procedural law.”

Capri’s alleged violations of town code dealing with dangerous buildings and structures — which serves as the basis for the motel’s public nuisance label — were cited during the town counsel’s arguments. But the motel’s purported violations are disputed by L&S, which says Hempstead officials violated the process in place to label a property a public nuisance.

Whether that public nuisance label is valid or relevant to the eminent domain hearing remains a point of contention between town officials and Capri’s legal counsel.

“With all due respect, this hearing has nothing to do with those tickets,” said John Maccarone, the Hempstead town lawyer. “The town has decided that they have a public proposal, and that public purpose is to, in fact, have recreation facilities. So, we’re condemning the property.”

While the town hearing goes on, the owners of Capri Motor Inn continue to fight their public nuisance charges in district court. As of April 8, the court dismissed all 24 criminal charges against them.

The town declared in its January meeting the eminent domain hearing would conclude March 1. The town has since extended the hearing — as well as the window for public comment — to May 9, with special hearing officer Anthony Marano scheduled to make his recommendation by May 12.