Bayville catering hall seeking variances amid tensions with neighbors

Neighbors of a Bayville catering hall say proposed zoning variances to expand the permitted uses would allow ongoing noise problems to continue.

Neighbors said the variances would legalize what they say is history of violations that have gone on for years.

“We can’t even use our backyards,” said Lori Seele, whose home abuts the caterer’s property. “We can’t sleep at night. There’s music blasting. There are people drinking. There are people screaming at night.”

Seele said the village zoning board of appeals should go further than deny the caterer’s new application when it comes up for a hearing Wednesday and revoke the 2013 variance that allowed the catering hall to operate in the first place.

Mayor Robert DeNatale did not return calls for comment Monday.

The company, 45 Bayville Ave. LLC — which operates under the name Soundview Caterers — is seeking variances including the removal of restrictions on the length and location of outdoor ceremonies on the premises; restrictions on outdoor beverage service and the “modification” of restrictions on music during ceremonies, according to a public notice of the Bayville Zoning Board of Appeals. The company also seeks to legalize the modification of fencing and the enlargement of a gazebo area and to remove limits on sea wall ceremonies and photography. The catering hall is on the former American Legion post, which overlooks Long Island Sound.

Soundview Caterers’ attorney, Michael Markowitz of Hewlett, said he was not the attorney on the zoning application and referred questions to owner Michael Gjoni. Calls to Gjoni were not returned Monday.

The property, which is zoned residential, was owned for decades by the Robert H. Spittel Post No. 1285 of the American Legion. The property was granted a variance for a nonconforming use in 1959 for use for legion functions.

In 1979 it was granted a special-use permit to operate as a catering facility but outdoor activities were prohibited. In 2013, the village granted variances to allow limited outdoor activities but with several restrictions including an hour time limit on sea wall ceremonies, prohibition on food, alcohol and beverages being served on the patio and the prohibition on amplified music. 45 Bayville Ave. LLC bought the property in 2017, according to Nassau County records.

Robert Gaglione, who also lives next the property, said fighting Soundview Caterers has been “exhausting” and he’s retained an attorney to fight the new application.

The proposed changes would “totally destroy our quality of life in homes adjoining his property,” Gaglione said.