Atlantic Beach Club hearing reopens Friday

Hempstead Town's Board of Appeals on Friday will continue last month's public hearing about seven zoning change petitions from representatives of the Atlantic Beach Club.

Representatives of the Atlantic Beach Land Company, which runs the private membership beach club on 1393 Beech St. in Atlantic Beach, are seeking to legalize additions made over decades without building permits on the 14-acre beachfront property.

The club is seeking special exceptions to use the existing clubhouse as a "place of public assembly and amusement," as well as the continued use of two storage containers and two trailers maintained as offices.

Representatives of the club also are seeking variances for off-street parking and approval to maintain several of the 189 cabanas, some which have additions that are higher and larger than permitted.

Club officials also want to build an addition to an existing cabana that makes it bigger than permitted in a flood zone. It has a 7-foot ceiling. The beach club is requesting to double its size and increase the height to 9 feet.

Some residents of an adjacent neighborhood have raised concerns about the proposed cabana height and size, and the possibility it will block their ocean views.

The beach club was established in 1939. The property was sold to the Atlantic Beach Land Company in 2007 for $9.5 million and had a market value in 2010 of $5.5 million, according to Nassau County property records.

The appeals board will meet at 9:30 a.m. during a special meeting in the Nathan L.H. Bennett Pavilion, adjacent to Hempstead Town Hall, on One Washington St. in Hempstead.