Chabad of Beaches at zoning board on Aug. 22

After a legal battle with Atlantic Beach village over the property at 2025 Park St, the Chabad of the Beaches will bring its plan to the village’s Board of Zoning Appeals on Aug. 22.

The Long Beach Jewish group purchased the land in 2021. A legal battle then ensued when the village claimed on eminent domain on the site. Atlantic Beach lost and now has to pay the Chabad  $400, 00 over four years. In addition, the village incurred legal fees over $300,000. The First Liberty Institute for free represented the Chabad.

“The Chabad is scheduled for the BZA hearing on Thursday, August 22,” Vincent Amoroso, Atlantic Beach village public works superintendent said at the Aug. 12 village board meeting. “They have submitted their drawings. The drawings have been reviewed. They have been issued a denial letter. They are seeking a number of variances.”

A denial letter prompts the Chabad to go before the BZA to ask for exceptions to standard village building code.

The plans, which are available to the public in Atlantic Beach Village Hall, show that the Chabad seeks to build a community center and event space. The project includes minor additions to the existing building, formerly a Capital One Bank, exterior and interior work, new drainage, landscaping, lighting, patios, parking, paver walkways and sewage.

At the Aug. 12, a resident asked the village board about the proposed project and Atlantic Beach Mayor George Pappas noted the village board is not allowed to comment on pending applications.

“We look forward to presenting our application to the Zoning Board of Appeals,” Rabbi Eli Goodman of Chabad of the Beaches wrote in an email to the Herald. “We believe that our proposed adaptive reuse of the former bank property will not be a detriment to the community as the proposed structure substantially conforms to existing property conditions and, if approved, will beautify one of the gateways to the Village and benefit the residents of Atlantic Beach through the provision of inclusive religious programming, activities, and services in a welcoming and attractive space.”

When the Chabad purchased the property three years ago, they planned to build a community center as previously reported by the Herald.

Weeks later, Atlantic Beach village officials then announced their intention of acquiring the property through eminent domain, a governmental procedure to convert the property to public use after compensating the owner. 

In 2022, the Chabad filed suit against the village in federal court, which ended in the November 2023 settlement, when Atlantic Beach also agreed to drop the eminent domain proceeding and to refrain from interfering with the Chabad’s use of the property.

The settlement https://www.liherald.com/fivetowns/stories/chabad-of-the-beaches-atlantic-beach-settlement,201338 generated reaction from village residents who questioned the legal fees, settlement terms and zoning regulations related to the property.

At the Dec. 11 village meeting last year, Jim Miskiewicz, the village’s lawyer in the Chabad case, gave a report on the progress of the case.

“All of the parties have executed the agreement,” Miskiewicz said at the December meeting.

Miskiewicz said that the next steps included the Chabad’s submission of plans to the Atlantic Beach zoning board, then a return to federal court for the case to be finalized.

One resident at the December meeting, voiced concerns that the Chabad could sue the village based on the zoning board’s ruling on the proposed plan, to which Miskiewicz, said no, because of the provisions in the settlements.

The zoning board hearing is at Atlantic Beach Village Hall, 65 The Plaza, Atlantic Beach, at 7 p.m.

A story on the Aug. 22 hearing will be published in the Aug. 29 edition of the Nassau Herald.