Town to review approval of Wantagh cabaret

Angry Wantagh residents yesterday urged the Town of Hempstead Board of Appeals to permanently rescind approval of a cabaret to be located just feet from Wantagh homes.

The board, which approved the cabaret in June, says it will study the matter. The approval would have allowed business owner Billy Dean to open a cabaret at 3500 Sunrise Hwy., but prohibits topless, bottomless or nude entertainment.

Residents, who have been protesting at the site since March, said they feared the owner of Billy Dean's Showtime Cafe in Bellmore, which bills itself as "Long Island's Number 1 Strip Club," could do the same thing in Wantagh.

About 200 residents attended the hearing, with a few waiting seven hours to speak and urge the board to repeal the approval.

"I cannot see at any point them [the board] allowing a strip club in a residential area like this," said protest organizer Kevin Milano, 55, of Wantagh, who was at the daylong public hearing.

Dean, the owner of the company bearing his name, told the board the club would be a "Las Vegas-style showroom" of adult entertainment, including "aerial acts," and would not admit minors. "I am an entertainer. That is what I do," he said at the hearing.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray and council members Angie Cullin and Gary Hudes testified against granting Billy Dean's cabaret license. "We don't want to see a beautiful neighborhood turned into a red-light district," Murray said. "A cabaret would not enhance the neighborhood."

Residents said a club would damage the area's character and quality of life as well as increase traffic and parking problems. "I don't need the aggravation," said Chris Peterkin, 60, who has lived next door to the site for 22 years.

The board called for a rehearing after learning that advertising about the Wantagh venue on Billy Dean's website referred to lap dances, which are prohibited under the cabaret license. All references to the Wantagh property had been removed from the website by yesterday afternoon.

The board of appeals said it may take more than three months before it will make a decision.