Five Towners speak on Woodmere Club development

Roughly 35 Five Towns residents addressed their concerns with the potential development of the Willow View Estates at the Woodmere Club in a virtual public hearing held by the Nassau County Planning Commission.

The Nov. 17  hearing was held as part of the process of New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act, which requires a public comment period and hearing to take place as potential land development is being considered. Planning Commission Chairman Marty Glennon noted that the commission while affording the public the opportunity to speak there would not be any  decisions or feedback from the nine-member panel at the meeting.

Resident concerns focused on increased traffic volume in an already congested area, the use of land space and flood mitigation. Blanche Lerer of Lawrence was adamant on not wanting the development to go through. 

“The Willow View Estate developers should know that they are not welcomed in the Five Towns,” she said. “We already have enough noise from airplanes and emergency service vehicles. Traffic is already horrendous in each town.”

Currently, the proposed development is for 284 single-family homes — the proposed Willow View Estates — would be built on 114.5 acres of club property by its owners, developers Efrem Gerszberg and Robert Weiss. The plan calls for 247 homes within Woodmere’s boundaries, 24 in Woodsburgh and 13 in Lawrence.

The developers filed a federal lawsuit in September against the Town of Hempstead and the villages of Lawrence and Woodsburgh over those municipalities creating a Coastal Conservation District that aims to inhibit the proposed development.

The public comment period is open until 5 p.m. on Jan. 8. To submit a comment on the draft environmental impact statement, send it to willowseqr@nassaucountyny.gov or in writing to: Nassau County Planning Commission, 1194 Prospect Ave., Westbury, N.Y. 11561, Attn: John Perrakis.

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