The Village of Westbury board of trustees renewed Isla De La Bahia’s cabaret use permit last week, but denied the eatery’s request to stay open until 3 a.m., keeping their current extended hours of 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
The Hispanic restaurant at 186 Post Ave. had requested to stay open until 3 a.m. for private catering events such as birthday parties. Luis Rodriguez, the attorney who spoke on behalf of the restaurant, said it wasn’t often that a customer requested they stay open that late for events, but they wanted to have the flexibility to do so.
However, Mayor Peter Cavallaro noted that no other establishment on Post Avenue—except for Avanti, which is classified as a nightclub, and businesses that under the pre-existing non-conforming use—is open past 2 a.m. There are also residential apartments on the second floor of the building next door to Isla De La Bahia.
“This is a restaurant and we understand people want to go out to dinner and stay out late, but 3 a.m. connoted a bar use more than a restaurant use,” Cavallaro said. “Since there are residential units so close, we don’t want to authorize it until 3 a.m.”
The ongoing road repaving project was also discussed at Aug. 11’s meeting. The Sherwood section is expected to be finished this week, with repaving work on the entire Breezy Hill section expected to begin this week. He noted that the Breezy Hill section has some of the oldest roads in the village.
“It’s a big section and logistically problematic because of all the cars we have parked on the streets in Breezy Hill,” Cavallaro said. “We have sent notices that the work will be starting and lasting throughout the end of September.”
By the end of this round of road repaving, Cavallaro said the village will have repaved an excess of 25 of the 43 miles in the village.
“All the roads in the worst condition when we started have been done. Now we’re working on roads that need to be repaved but were not in such deplorable conditions,” Cavallaro said. “We’re going to try to get to the entire village over the next couple of years and prioritize on a worst-first basis and address smaller issues that need to be addressed like temporary repairs like cracks and potholes.”
