The owner of a proposed controversial cabaret in Wantagh appeared before the Hempstead Town Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday to ask for permission to open his business.

As News 12 has reported, there has been a fight over Billy Dean's cabaret since 2011.

The Town of Hempstead first rejected plans for the cabaret on Sunrise Highway. In 2014, a federal court upheld the town's decision, but an appeals judge ordered that Dean be given one more hearing by Hempstead.

Dean insists the cabaret would not involve any nudity, and claims he would offer family friendly entertainment.

"I'm willing to sign that covenant, no nudity, no topless, no bottomless, no adult entertainments, but yet they still seem to protest," he says.

Residents who are opposed to the plan say they don't like the idea of alcohol being served at the club, and they believe the cabaret will bring their property values down.

"It's going to remarkably increase the traffic through the surrounding neighborhoods in off-peak hours," says Sean Hanney, of Seaford

The board will make a decision about the fate of the business in the next few weeks.

Dean says if he is turned down again by the board, he'll sue the town in federal court claiming that his civil rights were violated as a businessman,