Chabad's expansion plans face community opposition
The controversy over what the Chabad of the Beaches plans to do with its property on Park Street in Atlantic Beach remained unresolved last week, when the village Board of Zoning Appeals reserved decision on the requested variances.
At a hearing on Aug. 22, Rabbi Eli Goodman, of Chabad of the Beaches, in Long Beach; attorney William Bonesso, representing the Chabad; Barry Nelson, of Nelson Realty Group; and Wayne Muller, of R&M Engineering, presented plans and studies for a religious community center with an accessory café at 2025 Park St.
“We realized that there was a need to service the people that liked the Chabad way of education and outreach,” Goodman said, “and that we needed to have a place over here that the people in Atlantic Beach could call home.”
The Chabad purchased the land in 2021, and a legal battle ensued when the village tried to claim the site by eminent domain. A federal court sided with the Chabad, issuing an injunction against the claim the following year. Atlantic Beach has since agreed to pay the Chabad $400,000 over four years to settle the Chabad’s lawsuit against the village.
Village residents filled the seats and stood along the walls at last week’s hearing, and about 10 of them voiced their opposition to the Chabad’s plan.
Nelson and Goodman presented printed renderings to the board, showing a building that would require variances and special exceptions related to parking, signage, and the repurposing of the former Capital One Bank property’s drive-through window to make a kosher food drive-through.
Atlantic Beach resident Gerry Kestenbaum said he supported the Chabad, but appeared apprehensive about the drive-through. “I feel in this room a lack of trust as to what the real purpose of this is, and I can understand it, because I have a lot of relatives on the other side of the bridge,” Kestenbaum said, referring to the Atlantic Beach Bridge, “where houses are taken over for one purpose, and they’re turned into something very, very different.”
Village Trustee Anthony Livreri, who lives not far from the property, said he was speaking as a resident. “They say it’s a community outreach, but they never once reached out to anybody on that block in the last two years,” Livreri said, referring to the Chabad.
After the hearing, Atlantic Beach Mayor George Pappas wrote in a text message to the Herald that trustees have no influence on the BZA, but are permitted to speak as residents.
“When we bought our home in 2013 it was the bank,” Livreri’s wife, Erica Gerard, said. “It was a pass-through building. People did not gather there. People did not stay there.”
Gerard said she was concerned about additional traffic, especially in the early-morning hours. Goodman said the drive-through would open at 5:30 a.m.
She also commented on the proposed plans for just seven parking spots, for a building with a capacity of more than 40 people. The Chabad anticipates that village residents who visit would use municipal parking spots nearby, which require permits.
Another resident, Joseph Monteleone, and some BZA members, highlighted the difference between a Chabad community center and a retail space that would sell food at the drive-through.
“I would ask that they commit tonight to pay both sales tax and real estate taxes in the event that this board passes their requests,” Monteleone said.
Bonesso noted the terms of the legal settlement between the village and the Chabad. “The settlement is conditioned on Chabad receiving the variances and permits it needs to use the property for a Chabad house for outreach to the community,” Bonesso said. “If the Chabad is denied such variances and permits, it has the option to terminate the settlement and resume the federal litigation in which that the village’s exposure would be considerably higher.”
After the BZA announced that it would reserve its decision, Chairman George Cornish said there would be no additional hearings on the matter. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 19.
Have an opinion on the Chabad’s plans? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.
