Rehearing For Billy Dean's Planned Wantagh Development Slated for Wednesday

Opponents of a planned entertainment facility in Wantagh who the business will operate as a strip club will get to have their say before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals Wednesday.

A rehearing of Billy Dean’s application to receive a cabaret permit for his business planned for 3500 Sunrise Hwy. is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Dean also owns a strip club in North Bellmore called Billy Dean’s Showtime Café.

The Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals, which granted Dean a cabaret license last year for the Wantagh property, has scheduled a for May 18 due to vocal opposition that has mounted as well as a belief that not enough people were notified of his plans during the application process. A day before the hearing Hempstead officials announced that they have proposed a town law that would provide stronger public notice requirements for businesses as well as all commercial properties that seek construction and use variances.

In the last two months protesters have been holding rallies at 3500 Sunrise Hwy. and have pointed to indications it will be operated as a strip club such as the building being constructed with no windows in the front. Opponents have expressed concerns that the business will wreak havoc in a residential community with traffic as well as bringing down property values.

Dean’s attorney Bill Cohn of Forchelli, Curto, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo, Cohn & Terrana, LLP in Uniondale has declined to comment on what his client has planned for 3500 Sunrise Hwy. The Billy Dean's Showtime Cafe website describes the unnamed Wantagh facility as a "full service restaurant" that "will feature dinner and show theatrical production packages with various types of variety entertainment." The description of the planned business said the club will "cater to anniversary, birthday, bachelorette, bachelor parties or groups of friends looking for a new twist for an exciting evening."

Dean Patch last November that he was not planning to have any adult entertainment at his new Wantagh business and it would instead be operated as a dinner club with “unique comedy acts.”

An opposition group that formed to fight against Dean's development called “Wantagh-Seaford Protect Our Children and Preserve Our Community”  has raised money to hire Chris Benes as its attorney to fight against Dean’s development.  Benes, who is with the Westbury-based firm Gold, Stewart & Benes, LLP, also represented the Bellmore Preservation Group in its fight against a proposed next to a residential street.

People who want to express their views on Dean’s Wantagh application but cannot attend Wednesday’s hearing can fill out a comment form posted on the Town of Hempstead website.