By Andrew Coen
A re-configured adjacent municipal village lot would add parking spots for the village as part of the revised plan.
Ron Goldman, president of the Community Action Committee for the PPL and the "architect" of the Zion Park proposal, has devised a plan for the facility to not endanger any of the park's green space. The new proposal puts the 27,000- foot structure in the municipal parking lot adjacent to Zion Park and the Lawrence train station instead of taking up five percent of the park under the old plan. The new plan also adds green space to the park by placing grass over a slab of concrete that exists now where the library would have been built under the original plan. It also adds 13 parking spaces, a result of the village learning it owned land directly south of the LIRR station.
The entire municipal parking lot around the Lawrence LIRR station would also be reconfigured with new nine foot wide spaces and according to Goldman would end up providing 165 metered spots (currently there are 152) to go along with 35 spots that would be set aside for the library. Lawrence's engineering firm "Cameron Engineering" has already endorsed the project as an exemplary planning solution" in a letter addressed to the PPL.
"It works on all different levels," said Goldman of how the new proposal adds parking spaces in addition to increasing green space at Zion Park.
Since mid-2005 library officials have been pushing to construct a new facility in Lawrence's Zion Park with the proposed 27,000-square-foot, two-story structure - twice as large as the current building. The current library covers 13,500 square feet and stands as the smallest one in the county by the Nassau
County Library System. The PPL building was erected in the early 1960s, and library officials say the 13,000-square-foot facility simply won't accommodate expanded services. In addition access from Central Avenue is one narrow driveway on the east side of the building where cars both enter and exit, creating the potential for serious accidents. The facility also has limited parking space.
Goldman, who is also Lawrence village attorney, said while the original Zion Park proposal was endorsed by a wide segment of the District 15 community and village of Lawrence, some residents had raised concerns about a lack of parking and park-space being removed leading him to come up with the new proposal. Goldman said he has had discussions with Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) about obtaining state funds toward adding the green space to Zion Park.
Lawrence deputy mayor Simon Felder said he supports Goldman's updated plan but wants to study it further to make sure the parking re-configuration would work and that the costs would be affordable. Felder, who has proposed legislation that would protect open-space in the village, said he is happy that the new proposal does not remove any green-space from Zion Park and even adds some new grass to the site. "I think it's a very novel idea [Goldman] came up with," said Felder.
Seeking independence
At the same time as the adjusted PPL plans, library officials are also seeking independence from the Lawrence school board, which owns the library, so they can control their own destiny. PPL co-president Joan Lepelstat said once they gather the necessary 250 signatures they will request that the school board schedule a special referendum which, if approved, would give the library complete autonomy from district 15 and allow them to issue request for proposals on their current property and use proceeds from the sale toward constructing a new facility. "That would enable the library to control our own fate," said Lepelstat. "We feel it would be to our benefit."
"I've always wanted [the PPl] to have independence from the school district," said Lawrence school board president Dr. Asher Mansdorf. "I want the library to stand on their own two feet just like I'd want my children to stand on their own two feet."
Lepelstat said if the PPL were able to get independence from the Lawrence school board, the library would still be a district 15 facility but would have complete independent jurisdiction. The move would also pave the way for the library to be placed on a special legislative list to become eligible for low interest financing from the Dormitory Authority of New York to help make the project a reality according to Lepelstat.
Library officials have tried for years to expand their building, but have hit roadblocks because of a state Education Department law that prohibited the Number One School from losing any playground space. When the school was closed by the school board in June, 2004 as part of a consolidation plan, library officials lobbied for expansion, but were unsuccessful due to the high value of the property. In 1997 district 15 residents defeated a referendum to build a new library on Rockaway Turnpike in Cedarhurst.
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