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AUGUST 27, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Op- d
To Build or Not to Build – That is the Question By Eli Kutner
T
he residents of the Village of Lawrence are a lucky lot. We are fortunate to live in a “bedroom” community just outside the hurried city of New York, a short train ride away from one of the financial, cultural and demographic epicenters of the world, 15 minutes from an airport that serves as a portal to the entire globe. Yet, we reside in a serene, park-like community; one that could easily be found in bucolic middle America, certainly un-urban. The Village of Lawrence is an island of serenity in the storm of the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life. This positive experiment in suburban living is a fragile one, though. It requires careful management and foresight to sustain its long-term success. Even one bad idea or project may have a ripple effect on the entire Village. One of the important issues that the next Board of Trustees will have to tackle is further commercial development of the Village. Specifically, the development of the former water treatment center located at Rock Hall Road and the 878. It is one of the largest spaces in the entire Lawrence available for development. As of now there are two basic propositions being considered: -Sale as 8 individual lots for residential houses -Development of a 120-150 multi-family apartment condominium building
Commercial development is not always a bad thing. It alleviates housing shortages, provides additional affordable residential options, and expands the tax base. More people would like to move to Lawrence, residents have older children they would like to have settle nearby, and the municipality can always use more tax revenue.
mind, let’s look at the issue at hand. The sale of the parcel for some sort of development is a one-time opportunity for a substantial revenue boost to the Village. The land has been appraised at a value of up to $13 million. This would be a windfall for village and could be used to keep up a budget surplus (which our current mayor has built and main-
On the other hand, we are all familiar with the downsides of commercial development – increased population, stress on the resources of existing residents, noise pollution, traffic congestion, and the process known as “slow-pace urbanization.” With these considerations in
tained), lower taxes, or serve as funds for another project. That is obviously good. However, the bottom-line is not always about the bottom-line. While everyone would love for money to pour into our coffers, there are additional priorities to bear in mind,
some of which are more important than money. A primary concern is to maintain the character of the Village; that is certainly more important than money. For illustrative purposes, imagine if a commercial enterprise offered the Village tens of millions of dollars to turn the water treatment center into an incineration plant or a shopping mall; that would be an anathema, no matter what revenue we would incur. Nobody in their right mind would support that. Obviously, then, there is an equation at hand: How much money is worth how much inconvenience/safety/ pollution/ traffic/aesthetic decline to our village? Let’s first consider the location of the project, right between Sutton Park on one side and Rock Hall Road and Harborview on the other side. Many residents of these neighborhoods live there precisely because of the calm and appealing nature of these neighborhoods. Is it fair to drop a commercial condo building in their back (or front) yards? Even as a luxury multifamily facility, the building would likely stand at 3-4 stories, with at least the first level serving as a parking garage. (Due to the water table, the structure would have to be built on stilts, precluding any useable parking space underground.) Is it outrageous for these residents to oppose a massive building towering over their
