A Williston Park attorney on Monday charged that the Village of Williston Park’s Board of Zoning Appeals wrongly halted his client’s business for a zoning variance he said it did not need.

At a heated and crowded three-hour meeting Monday night, Michael Holland argued the village acted improperly and illegally when it issued a cease and desist order Simply Foot Spa, a foot-massage establishment proposed for 121 Hillside Ave.

“It is my client’s position that the village building inspector, with the acquiescence of the village attorney, has overstepped those bounds immensely,” Holland said.

The village zoning code says massage parlors cannot be located within 1,000 feet of any school, park or “house of worship.”

Building Inspector Kerry Collins said the zoning board has to except Simply Foot Spa from that provision before the Village Board can grant the special exception permit required for massage parlors under village code.

Holland said he was originally told Simply Foot Spa owner Byung Suk You did not need a variance, so she opened her business, but later received a cease-and-desist order from Collins in June 2015.

The village would have to present this case to the Nassau County Supreme court before it could issue a cease-and-desist order, Holland said, and Simply Foot Spa was not given due process.

“No hearing was held, no testimony was taken, no evidence was presented,” Holland said. “There’s no decision from the board of trustees taken for my client.”

But Collins said in a phone interview he never told Holland a variance wasn’t required.

Simply Foot Spa was operating without a permit, he said, so the building department issued summonses and mandated that the business apply for a special exception.

Holland said his client applied for a special exception from the village Board of Trustees in November 2015 in response to this code, but the village failed to respond to it in a timely manner.

He added that You operates her business transparently and “has no problems or violations, otherwise.”

Massage parlors, particularly foot spa establishments, have been subject to recent crackdowns and arrests throughout Long Island and eastern Queens in 2015 for illegal prostitution.

Holland said that his client “does not own a brothel.”

“My client is owner-operator of a beauty salon located on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset for five years” he said. “(The state) doesn’t require that she have a license to own a massage parlor, we’re not saying she’s a massage technician,” said Holland.

Holland also challenged the building department’s authority to enforce the relevant code and said the village did not respond promptly to his Freedom of Information Law request for records relating to his application.

But Collins said Holland filed the request toward the end of last week, and that his statements about the building department’s authority were unfounded under state law.

“He was dragging on that I didn’t have the power to stop him from operating, which was non-factual,” Collins said.

The board unanimously voted to reserve decision on the Simply Foot Spa application and continue the public hearing in April.

Another applicant, Liffco Inc., requested a special-use permit to service and repair outdoor motor equipment as an “accessory use” to its retail business.

Liffco is moving from its Mineola location to 294 Hillside Ave. in Williston Park.

Holland said the building inspector told him he did not need an additional permit for this, as cited under village code.

In addition, the applicant requested that repairs be permitted as part of his business operation, and said he would receive various items of personal property as trade-ins, Holland said.

“He would be permitted to store and resell those items, as permitted under the code.” He cited multiple subsections under village code.

The second hearing attracted many ardent attendees, who were briefly given the opportunity to share their observations about Liffco’s application at the end of the hearing, but zoning board Chairman Brian Cunningham told them the meeting was not the place to express opinions about the application.

Local resident Jose Salinas discussed his concern of the exhaust fumes, and danger to children living near hazardous equipment.

Many residents said they were upset that they waited nearly two-and-a-half hours for Holland to finish presenting Simply Foot Spa’s application and were not allowed to give opinions.