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LIHERALD

Two vacant Atlantic Beach parcels are the focus of a legal battle between the village and the Chabad of the Beaches, as the Jewish congregation in Long Beach fights the municipality’s petition to take over the land through eminent domain.

The Long Beach Chabad bought both properties, which have been vacant for over two years, last November for $950,000 from M.A. Salazar Inc., a real estate company. The Chabad, led by Rabbi Eli Goodman, plans to build a community center not only for the Jewish community, but for all residents, Goodman said.

The village is going to court on July 14 to try to acquire the two parcels through eminent domain, the legal right of a government to buy private land within its borders.

Parcel One, at 2025 Park Street, includes a vacant building that most recently housed a Capital One bank. The village plans to build a community center and a recreational facility, which would also house beach lifeguard operations.

If the village’s eminent domain petition succeeds, Parcel Two, at 2035 Park, would be used as a community park, with open space, seating and landscaping. The two properties total 18,500 square feet, and are adjacent to an existing village recreational facility that includes tennis and pickleball courts and a basketball court.

“Don’t yet know what our plans are,” Goodman said, “We were startled by (the court action). It was not done in a friendly way, and there is more behind it than a land grab.” Goodman has previously claimed that he sensed antisemitism and discrimination in the eminent domain action. He noted that no offer had been made by the village to buy the land.

Many Atlantic Beach residents voiced their adamant opposition to the village’s action at a Jan. 10 public hearing welcoming public comment. The public comment period ended on Jan. 24. Since then the village has prepared an eminent domain petition and filed it on June 14.

Lifelong Atlantic Beach resident Richard Libbey’s family business, M.A. Salazar, had owned the property at 2035 Park Street since 1938, including a building that was demolished by the village in 2011. Until the land title officially passes to a new owner, the parcel remains under the ownership of the previous one.

“Their reasons are not 100 percent legitimate,” Libbey said of the village’s eminent domain action, adding that there are other, better sites for a community center.

Libbey said that an Atlantic Beach property measuring 10,000 square feet recently sold for $1.9 million. The plots the Chabad bought are nearly twice that size, so, Libbey reasoned, the fair market value of the land could be at least double what the Long Beach congregation paid for the land eight months ago.

Atlantic Beach Mayor George Pappas referred all questions on the matter to external counsel Joshua Rikon, representing Atlantic Beach, who did not return multiple calls seeking comment on the pending court proceeding.

At the January public hearing, Rikon said that his Manhattan-based firm, Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Levi, was hired by Atlantic Beach in 2020, and that the firm was involved in “assisting the village in passing the resolution to prepare appraisal accords for the two properties” in February 2021.

“The project consists of approximately 18,500 square feet of land to be used for the village to expand adjacent recreational facilities that currently contain tennis courts, pickleball courts and a basketball court,” Rikon said in January.

“No alternative locations were considered for the project. Parcels One and Two are next to a village-owned recreational facility. The effect of the project on the environment and residents was considered by the village. The project will not result in significant adverse impact on the environment or the residents of the village.”

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