If Only West Hempstead Had The D'Amatos

Tear down a beach club in posh Atlantic Beach and build 100 condo units?

Sure, No problem. If you’re name is D’Amato – Al, Armand, Christopher, Katuria – if you think it, you can will it. At the very least, you can get it by the Town of Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals, where Al’s wife, Kat, sits, collecting full-time benefits for part-time work.

All right. So this is America. Free Enterprise. Whatever the market will bear. Capitalism at its best.

A bona fide, if not politically connected developer (D’Amato’s Park Strategies group), enters into a deal with a private entity, the Sands of Atlantic Beach (Jem Caterers), to develop the property with upscale condo units. So what’s wrong with that?

In a free market, absolutely nothing, as long as the residents of Atlantic Beach stand behind the plan, which appears, at first report, to be anything but the case.

A change in Town Zoning to facilitate and accommodate this redevelopment? You got it, Al. All you have to do is ask!

So why is it that, in West Hempstead, where a bona fide developer, Trammel-Crow, enters into a contract with a private entity, the owners of the Courtesy Hotel, to purchase the property and redevelop the site with luxury apartment units – a project that appears to have the almost universal support of the community – the Town of Hempstead balks, bails, and bellyaches when it comes to this community’s will?

West Hempstead needs its Al D’Amato, we suppose – or at least its Kat on the Courtesy’s hot, tin roof!
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D'Amatos' condo plan
BY EDEN LAIKIN
eden.laikin@newsday.com

Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, his brother and son have proposed a multimillion-dollar, 100-condo development for the site of the 50-year-old Sands beach and catering club in Atlantic Beach.

Residents in this quaint beach community, which borders the Atlantic Ocean and Reynolds Channel, plan to fight the proposal they said would negatively impact their lifestyles.

"Their plan, if passed, would be detrimental to our community and our beachfront," according to a letter sent around the neighborhood by a resident. It "clearly disregards the nature of our community and the beauty and fragility of our beaches."

The proposal hinges on the partners getting approval to change the 12-acre property's zoning from marine recreation to multi-family dwelling. The plan calls for 20 buildings each with five luxury condos at 2,200 to 2,400 square feet with an indoor garage. It would be within the new zoning, said an attorney for the group. The development partners - D'Amato, his brother, Armand, and son, Christopher - would also build an outdoor pool, gatehouse and 233 parking spaces.

No one from the Sands returned calls for comment, but the application was signed and authorized by Jem Caterers, on behalf of the Sands.

Christopher D'Amato, a lawyer in his father's consulting and lobbying firm, Park Strategies, said this would be the group's first major development project. A disclosure form filed with the town named Alfonse D'Amato as having 60 percent interest and Christopher and Armand, each with 20 percent interest.

Raina Russo, the Atlantic Beach estates' resident who wrote the letter critical of the project, said that as a developer herself, she doesn't oppose development or change.

"I'm fighting this plan," Russo said. "I think this plan shows a lack of consideration for the members who live in the community. I am looking to make changes and improve the quality of life for Atlantic Beach residents."

Diedra Sehr, who has lived in the community for 28 years, is against the zoning change."It's going to destroy the little enclave we live in," she said. "We'll lose the feeling we have of this beach community and that's why I bought my house."

This is not the first time that an application to the town by the former senator who still wields influence there has raised questions. Last year, his wife Katuria, who sits on the town's Zoning Board of Appeals, had to recuse herself from a decision regarding applications by her husband to improve their Lido Beach home.

Should the proposal be approved by the town board, after undergoing reviews by various town and county agencies, it could come before the zoning board, where D'Amato's wife is a member.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.