By Andrew Coen
With 1,832 yes votes in the referendum to 726 no's - a whopping 72 percent showing their support - the Lawrence school board was given the green light to sell the former elementary school property to Neuberg. The board chose Neuberg's proposal in May, saying it was the highest offer received for the 3.79-acre property and would provide tax relief to District 15 and Lawrence residents, since the land use would be changed from school to commercial.
The Number One School was closed in June 2004 as part of a consolidation plan to save the district money. An appraisal conducted last year determined that the property was worth roughly $15 million. The referendum's passage marked the first time a District 15 proposition had been approved since a 2002 budget re-vote passed by just 14 votes.
Neuberg Development must now work with the village on its plans, and await the lifting of a local law prohibiting the construction of projects requiring high water usage before ground can be broken on the condos.
"It's a very positive sign, and we hope to see more of it," said Lawrence Superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons. "The board has some interesting work ahead of itself as to how to spend the proceeds."
Lawrence resident David Neuberg, who owns Neuberg Development LLC and had submitted plans to the village for the condos, could not be reached for comment.
The vote was necessary because under state law, public approval is required whenever school property is sold, according to the district's lawyers. Initially the ballot was to feature two propositions, but the school board voted on July 19 to drop a capital reserve fund measure, which would have required that the proceeds of the sale be set aside for various building needs throughout the district.
Just over a week before the Aug. 7 vote, John Squeri of Atlantic Beach filed a petition demanding that the vote be scrapped and claiming that by yanking the second proposition from the ballot, the district did not give residents enough public notice, and thus created the potential for confusion. The petition also expressed concern that the new school board, which features a majority of private-school parents, would decide to use the funds from the sale for tax relief rather than pressing building needs. But state Department of Education officials rejected the petition.
Dr. Asher Mansdorf, Lawrence school board president, said the district's lawyers had advised the board to abandon the second proposition, expressing concern that it was too vague about how the money would be spent. Mansdorf said after Monday's vote that a subcommittee made up of school board members Pam Greenbaum, Dr. David Sussman and Murray Forman as well as Lawrence Athletic Director Patrick Pizzarelli would study the district's building needs with the goal of including those items in a future referendum that could earmark some of the proceeds from the sale for a capital reserve fund.
"We're going to look very diligently at the capital needs of the district, and now that we have the funds in hand, we're going to move ahead and address those needs," said Mansdorf.
Richard Reiskin of North Woodmere said he voted for the proposal on Monday so that the school board can use some of the funds to address vital building needs throughout the district. "I think the sale should go back to the infrastructure of the school district," Reiskin said after voting at the Number Six School in Woodmere.
At the Lawrence Middle School, Abba Novak voted against the sale, expressing the fear that the proposed condos would add too much congestion to the area. "I'm concerned about the overcrowding of the neighborhood," Novak said. "Lawrence is very crowded already."
Neuberg signed the deal during a Lawrence village moratorium on projects requiring high water usage, which has been in place since last September, but district officials said the developer has been willing to work with the village despite the restriction. Lawrence officials are in the process of determining how best to increase the capacity of the village's water pollution control plant in order to lift the moratorium.
"I'm happy that the residents of the district approved the sale of the property," said Lawrence Mayor Dr. Jack Levenbrown. "I believe that most people seem to think that high-level apartments would be a good use for that property."
Levenbrown said that the state has given the village until early October to come up with an action plan to upgrade the water pollution control plant, and that he hopes to be able to resolve the issue shortly. He said the next step for Neuberg is to present village officials with his plans for the property to determine whether any variances are needed for the project.
Some residents have expressed fears that Neuberg will decide not to build condos, and instead sell the property to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach so its elementary school yeshiva could move from Long Beach to Lawrence, which would mean that the property would be kept off the tax rolls. However, district officials have said that a provision was added to the agreement with Neuberg to ensure that if any changes were made, the property would remain on the tax rolls. HALB officials have denied the rumor that they would purchase the property.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
