By Andrew Coen
"This is a tremendous positive for the community," said Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler. "Instead of a troubled bar and grill in a quiet neighborhood, you will have upscale homes that will really increase the property values of the area."
"I'm developing this property because the site is the perfect place to build multi-dwelling units," said builder John Picone. "It has close access to the bridge, the best fishing, a good recreational area and I have faith in Atlantic Beach and the growth it has. I feel Atlantic Beach has the potential to be the next Hamptons of Long Island."
The former AJ's property will soon feature six 3,000-square-foot units with views of the Atlantic Beach Bridge. Other amenities include waterfront terraces, whirlpool tubs in the master bedrooms, central air conditioning and yacht slips with 40-foot floats.
The original proposal called for 11 or 12 townhouses, but the village opposed the plan. According to Mahler, the former KO's Restaurant site on Bridge Plaza and Albany Boulevard will have five townhouses as well. "We made sure that there [were] only five and six units, and they're not overcrowded, with plenty of space," said Mahler of the two sites.
Former trustee and Deputy Mayor James Connors, who owns a home next to the former AJ's Restaurant, isn't completely happy about the townhouses, but he's glad to see there won't be another restaurant on the site. "I'm not crazy about the townhouses, but it's a lot better than having a restaurant," said Connors. "It's going to increase the property values tremendously."
According to Connors', his property has dramatically increased in value since he purchased his home. However, he claims that wasn't his motivation. "It was not about the money," he said. "It was about living comfortably."
Mahler isn't concerned about the lack of restaurants in his village now that AJ's and KO's have been vacated. "Everyone would like a nice restaurant, but I think for a small village we're better off with townhouses than with a replacement restaurant," he said, adding that a new restaurant will be opening on Park Street at the former site of Bambino De'Lino Ristorante .
AJ's was demolished in April 2002 after seven years of litigation. During the summer of 2001 the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals approved variance requests "without conditions" for six townhouses and one single-family home at the site. Nancy Fisher, an opponent of the proposed townhouses, had challenged the plans in court, but in 2000 both sides worked out a compromise that allowed the townhouses to be built.
A Board of Zoning Appeals public hearing was held on July 11, 2001, with Channel View, the former realtor for the townhouses, which requested a variance. Channel View asked for the variance because the proposed houses were planned to be three stories tall, higher than the 2 1/2-story limit for the village, and the town granted the request.
At the hearing, Connors presented a petition from 43 residents who supported the project for the townhouses as well as a 1995 petition containing 280 names of people who opposed the re-opening and expansion of AJ's.
After AJ's closed in the early 1990's, the village was involved in litigation to stop the construction of a new restaurant after the Town of Hempstead gave the owners its approval.
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