By Andrew Coen
The village of Lawrence passed a local law putting a six month halt to construction projects requiring high water usage last September because of concerns that their water pollution control plant was at or near capacity. The moratorium is scheduled to be lifted in March but could be extended if village officials deem it necessary.
John Pujia, a representative from the Lawrence Public School's brokerage firm "Greiner-Maltz Real Estate Company" said during a presentation at the Jan. 10 school board meeting that the current moratorium on high water usage prohibits interested developers from building housing units and also may even hinder any school that might want to move in. Pujia said that while a proposed educational institution would probably be grandfathered into the village law since the Number One School operated there for many years prior to the closing, since no units have been utilized at the school since the closing in June of 2004, the moratorium could present an obstacle to any proposal.
"The moratorium for the most part limits what anybody can do with the building," said Pujia. "If you can't build on [the property] it's valueless."
According to Pujia, 1,600 notices were sent out regarding the Number One School property, with around 150 responses including one from as far away as Dallas. He said there has been one formal bid and many other parties interested in submitting proposals. Lawrence school board president Frank Parise said the man who submitted the formal bid is from out of state and has asked to remain anonymous.
The school board has instituted the traditional 45 day time table for submitting bids which was launched last Sunday with a notice in the New York Times, but Parise said they have been advised to still accept proposals after the 45 days have expired due to the uncertainty of when the moratorium will expire. District officials last year estimated that the property was worth at least $15 million.
While no names of interested parties have been officially released by the school board, it was acknowledged last year by district officials that Touro College, yeshivas and housing developers had pursued information on the property. Attorney Marvin Ross said in a public hearing on the Lawrence moratorium on projects requiring high water usage in September that the local law would hurt some of his clients who had expressed interest in developing the property with housing units or condominiums.
The school board had considered the possibility of a lawsuit against the village of Lawrence soon after the village law was passed in September since some trustees argued that the Number One School property will be reduced in value as a result of the moratorium being instituted, since it would deter developers from purchasing the property. However, the school board's legal counsel advised them not to pursue a lawsuit since they did not feel they would have a strong enough argument to win a court battle against the village.
Lawrence mayor Dr. Jack Levenbrown said the village board will not know if the moratorium will be lifted until they get further information from a study that Cameron Engineering is conducting to better determine the future capacity of the plant.
Comments about this story? acoen@liherald.com or 516-569-4000 ext. 210.
