__________________ NAssAu _________________
Programs and services for all ages and abilities
All the news of the Five Towns
HHS honors its graduates
Page 10
Page 9
VOL. 102 NO. 27
JULY 3 - 9, 2025
Se rving Th e Greate r Fiv e Town s fo r alm ost 45 ye ars!
Learn more guraljcc.org
516-569-6733
$1.00
128238 5 8 111102
LHS celebrates the class of 2025
New life for transit-oriented 5-Towns plan By MELISSA BERMAN
mberman@liherald.com
Brian Norman/Herald
The Atlantic Beach Board of Zoning Appeals approved of the use of the lots at 1871 and 1891 Park St. by the Shores Beach Club until Sept. 7.
Atlantic Beach zoning board OKs Shores Club’s summer parking By BRIAN NORMAN bnorman@liherald.com
The Atlantic Beach Board of Zoning Appeals has approved the use of two parking lots, at 1871 and 1891 Park St. in the village, for the Shores Beach Club for the remainder of the summer season. The club received a notice of violation on March 17, ordering it to stop using the lots without a permit. The club’s owner, Howard Taub, was instructed to apply to the zoning board for for a special exception. Gregory Kalnitsky, an attorney who represented the Shores at a public hearing on June 25, said the beach club had been using the parking lots since the 1950s, and didn’t apply for an official use permit until 2002,
when the village took over zoning authority from the Town of Hempstead. Kalnitsky added that when the village assumed that authority, something got “lost in the mix,” and said Taub was unaware that he needed to renew a seasonal permit every five years when he purchased the club property and the parking lots in 2014. “The short of it is that these properties before the board today were used as commercial parking lots for about 75 years,” Kalnitsky said. “It is important that the board know that the current owners of the beach club were entirely unaware of any temporary approvals for their parking lots when they purchased the property in 2014, or they would have made the appropriate ConTinued on PAge 14
State Supreme Court Judge Conrad Singer ruled earlier this month that the Town of Hempstead’s repeal of a proposed transit-oriented development plan in Inwood and North Lawrence is invalid. Singer determined that the town failed to comply with state law when it did not seek approval from the Nassau County Planning Commission before rescinding the plan. The Town Board had unanimously voted to repeal the plan on Nov. 19, responding to community opposition. The proposed development, introduced in 2019 by then Town Supervisor Bruce Blakeman, who is now Nassau County executive, would rezone 11.7 acres near the Inwood and Lawrence Long Island Rail Road stations to allow for high-density residential development. The proposal, “Transit-Oriented Development District for North Lawrence and Inwood,” stated: “Having transit-oriented development within walking distance of the Lawrence and Inwood LIRR train stations, with appropriate design elements, will
achieve multiple goals: encourage walking and bicycling; increase transit ridership; emphasize mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development; reduce potential automobile dependency associated with new land uses by locating multiple destinations within close proximity; and support a larger commercial tax base for North Lawrence and Inwood.” Less than two years later, Heatherwood Communities LLC, a developer based in Commack, proposed a five-story, mixed-use building with more than 300 residential units, and garage parking for more than 400 vehicles, to be built on Wanser and Bayview avenues in Inwood. Progress was delayed by a town moratorium in 2022, which remained in effect until last June. Now, following Singer’s June 11 ruling, Heatherwood plans to move forward with the $154 million project. The company filed its application in 2022. “Although we’re disappointed that the situation required us to take legal action,” Heatherwood attorney Dan Shapiro said, “we’re pleased that our development rights have been restored by the court and we ConTinued on PAge 8