Nassau's housing plan approval angers Woodmere residents

By a 6 to 1 vote the Nassau County Planning Commission approved the proposed development of 17 single-family residential lots in a horseshoe-shaped parcel on Lawrence Woodmere Academy’s former property.

Roughly three years ago, Lawrence Woodmere Academy, a non-sectarian private school in Woodmere, sold nearly three acres of land to Campus Estates LLC, a developer based in Nassau County. 

The proposed development — on the corner of Woodmere Boulevard and Greenfield Road which will be surrounded by residential units to the north, east and west and the Lawrence Woodmere Academy to the south — with zone-compliant lots was approved after two years of development. Residents in the immediate area remain upset.

"As to the impact on the community, we decided to take the least impactful route and build what's totally allowable which is 17 individual, single-family homes," Angelo Marchica, Primary Principal of Campus Estates LLC, said. He added that everything that was done was allowable by law.  "There was no overreaching here, (no) trying to build a much larger development which would have, you know, probably yielded much larger profits."

Community members attended the Thursday a public hearing in Mineola to share their concerns about possible environmental harm and increased traffic resulting from the development. Their anger was exacerbated by the thought that they were notified too late the public hearing. The notice was in compliance with county charter, board officials said.

Sylvia Brown, a resident for 45 years, learned when she first moved in that two neighbors had sons who were diagnosed with cancer. Last year, Brown’s own son was diagnosed with brain cancer.

“The Woodmere Academy, years ago, was constantly spraying and dusting the fields to the point that I had to close the windows facing the school,” she said. “In later years, what they were using was banned. Today, I have concerns that the clearing of the fields is bringing up contaminants that have been long buried.” Brown thinks that these chemicals could be linked to her and her neighbors' son’s cancer diagnosis.

The LLC's representative responded, stating that there were many soil samples sent to a laboratory, and detected chemicals “were only slightly out of kilter for residential standard. The Department of Health also signed off on the project plan.”

Gail Walkover, who also lives near the property, thinks that disturbing the soil is dangerous, and compared it to asbestos. “The moment you start digging or picking at it or peeling it, then you're dead,” she said. “And that's what they're doing right now. And that's where the kids are standing. They say well, because it's been remediated, it's safer than it ever was. Yeah, because it's all in their lungs now.”

Walkover said she emailed the federal Department of Agriculture, but thought she was not notified early enough to contact the appropriate people. “The infrastructure cannot support what’s happening here,” Woodmere resident Allen Intretor said, referring to the narrow streets surrounding the property, the electricity, water and more. Intretor’s wife, Shaily, wants more paperwork from this project to be available to the public for viewing: “This was approved, that was approved —  where's the proof?”

Both Intretors thought the late notice of the hearing was unfair and said that if they knew sooner, they would have brought lawyers. “They (Guy Friedman Realty Group) had five lawyers coming up. Seven experts. And (it felt like) we were not allowed to counter,” Shaily said.

Walkover did not think they would approve the project, as 30 years ago the school was “trying to sell that land to the Sunrise Nursing Home people to build a nursing home slash rehabilitation center,” on that same property, Walkover said. “The only thing that saved the project (from happening)— that got rid of the nursing home, the fact that the federal government refused to allow migratory birds nesting sites to be taken away.”

The process that the LLC went through to get the project approved was strict and extensive, so it was surprising to see opposition from the community, Marchica said.

"Most of the complaints that I'm hearing from the community, this development actually either alleviates or completely eliminates. I don't really think there's any validity to what they're complaining about." Marchica added, "We really tried to work in close connection with the community and place the least impact on both the school and the community."

Have an opinion about land development in the Five Towns? Send your letter to jbessen@liherald.com.