By: Chris Munzing
Seapointe Towers was originally conceived by the Haberman Group as a set of four luxury condominium towers between Lincoln and Monroe boulevards. Permits to build the remaining three towers were issued in the late 1980s, but no construction ever took place.
In late 2003, however, the Haberman Group was granted a building permit by the City of Long Beach to begin construction of a second tower where Seapointe's parking lot is located. Seapointe residents went to the Zoning Board of Appeals to get the building permits revoked, and were successful.
Since that time, the battle between the Haberman Group and the residents has been tied up in court, and a stay against any further construction on the site was imposed. The latest court hearing, on Jan. 18, extended that stay for another two weeks.
Seapointe residents, who have formed a corporation called Xander Corp., are seeking a permanent injunction against the Haberman Group, but have a hurdle to clear before any injunction is officially set in motion. Xander Corp. is required to issue a bond of $250,000 to protect the Haberman Group if the injunction is found to be improper. The $250,000 would be the maximum that Haberman could collect in damages, a sort of insurance policy for Xander. The amount of the bond is set by the judge.
Xander, however, has been unable to issue the bond. Haberman attorney Emanuel R. Gold said that Xander's attorney, Michael Zapson, offered to issue a $100,000 bond instead, but was rejected by the judge. The $250,000 bond needs to be issued by the next court date on Feb. 1, or the injunction will be lifted.
Should that happen, Gold said, his client would begin the process of securing building permits.
Zapson, however, said that he was very pleased with the way the hearing went, and that he did not foresee any trouble securing the $250,000 within two weeks.
Zapson also said that he and his clients planned to sue the Haberman Group for damage that was done to Seapointe residents' cars Jan. 9, when they awoke to find two bulldozers digging up their parking lot while cars were still in it. A representative from the city's building department was dispatched on the morning of Jan. 10 to stop the work.
Gold was unconcerned that the stay against construction would be in place for the next two weeks. "There was no construction planned in the next two weeks," he said. "My client does not violate the law."
Though the Haberman group does not yet have the building permits to begin construction, the surprise parking-lot excavation did not require one, according to Gold. "We can do what we want on our property, so long as it doesn't require a permit," he said. "There is a huge, beautiful parking lot we built next to Seapointe because the judge asked us to. The people should be parking there. It's the nicest parking lot in the area."
Zapson said that a building permit was needed for any kind of demolition, and cited the building department's shutdown of the parking-lot dig as proof.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
