Thursday, October 1, 2026
There has been no progress in the Woodmere Club redevelopment approval process, despite a three-month hold on a decision regarding redrawn lot lines, and further discussion of the project at a Woodsburgh village meeting on Monday.
At a meeting on Sept. 23, Efrem Gerszberg, co-owner of the property with Robert Weiss, had urged Woodsburgh residents and the village board to push the Town of Hempstead to approve their development plan, because the town is the only municipality from which the developers are waiting for a go-ahead.
The latest plan for the club’s redevelopment, proposed in late July, includes the construction of 160 condominiums for seniors on the Woodmere portion of the club property and conservation areas on the other parcels, which are spread among the villages of Lawrence and Woodsburgh and the Town of Hempstead. Gerszberg and Weiss purchased the club in 2017, and controversy arose over residents’ disapproval of their initial plans for the property, and a federal lawsuit from the owners in response.
In September, Gerszberg also asked the Woodsburgh village board to approve the redrawn lot lines on the village’s portion of the property. Those lines were initially proposed at a meeting in July by the club owners’ attorney, Christian Browne, who said that Gerszberg and Weiss did not intend to sell the proposed subdivisions.
In September, Gerszberg said that the new lot lines would allow him to sell just the clubhouse property, which is its own subdivision, without two sections of the property to the south, which are conservation areas.
Residents expressed concerns, because the purpose of the lot lines was unclear in September. They also asked that a comprehensive plan, with lot lines and the proposed development, be submitted together.
The decision on the lot lines was reserved for a meeting on Monday at Hewlett Village Hall, at which Woodsburgh Mayor Jake Harman said that the Town of Hempstead has yet to approve the developers’ plan, and that they had submitted an update subdivision plan to the village.
“They put a new application in. Our building department has reviewed it,” Harman said, adding, of the department, “they wrote back with an indication that there were several things that were deficient within that application.”
The village board pushed a hearing on the matter until the next meeting, on Feb. 13, requesting that Gerszberg and Weiss submit their updated subdivision plan to the village 10 business days before the meeting.
The sub-division application with deficiencies included the clubhouse as a lot, and the tennis courts and the 17th and 18th holes as their own lots, Woodsburgh Deputy Mayor Alan Hirmes explained. “Subdividing doesn’t give them the ability to build on any areas that were not originally allowed,” Hirmes added.
At the September meeting, Gerszberg said that if the lot lines were not approved, he would sell all of the property south of Keene Lane and Railroad Avenue.
Gerszberg and Browne also said in September that if the Town of Hempstead did not agree to meet with the developers within 60 days, they would take additional legal action, involving both Lawrence and Woodsburgh villages.
At Monday’s meeting, Harman said that the developers had pushed back the deadline, without a specific date. Neither the owners nor Browne attended this week’s meeting.
Have an opinion on the latest Woodmere Club proposal? Send a letter to pschug@liherald.com.
