Water Works Realty has withdrawn its application to develop what is known as the Brooklyn Waterworks property, Petrina Reda, chairperson of the Freeport Landmarks Commission, told the standing-room-only crowd of residents at Village Hall Tuesday night. The board voted unanimously to accept the withdrawal “without prejudice.”
   
Ms. Reda read a letter that the village clerk received from Water Works Realty that day, which stated that because of concerns about the project and the developer’s wish to “work with residents, I am withdrawing my current application.” The letter was signed by Gary Melius, the president of Water Works Realty.
   
Residents reacted to the news with thunderous applause.
   
But Ms. Reda cautioned residents, “I presume Water Works Realty will submit plans in the future. We [the Landmarks Commission] must give consideration to the historic value and appropriateness of the design, as well as other factors for aesthetic consideration. But we do not look at zoning,” she explained, adding that “there are many steps before development including the zoning board and building department, as well as Nassau County and the Long Island Rail Road.”
   
With this in mind, Ms. Reda said she and the other committee members still wanted “to hear the community’s comments.”
   
The proposed project was for a six- story, 125-unit rental apartment building that also included 225 parking spaces.  The building was to be nestled against  the Brookside Preserve and just feet away from the Long Island Rail Road berm.
   
Cynthia Krieg, village historian and a Landmarks Preservation commissioner, presented a brief history of the Brooklyn Waterworks building.
   
“The city of Brooklyn was running out of water and turned to [what is now] Nassau County for an increase of water supply in 1889,” said Ms. Krieg. She said the plan for the pumping station at the site on North Brookside Avenue was “a structure in the early Romanesque  design,” that  included deep red brick, towers, large arched windows, eyebrow dormers and a Roman arch. It was completed in 1891 and had five steam driven pumps.
   
“At its peak 54 million gallons of water were pumped to Ridgewood, Queens,” she said. By 1929 the station was used on a stand-by-basis. It was last used between 1965 and 1966 and remained operational until 1977. The county bought it in 1979.
   
The building and property were given landmark status in 1986. Mr. Melius bought the property soon after with the intention of building condominiums, but the real estate market went bust. He also proposed a nursing home, but couldn’t get approval from the state.
   
A fire gutted the buildings in 1993 and the buildings fell into disrepair. In 2010, the Landmarks Commission granted the property owner the right to demolish what was left of the Brooklyn Water- works after it had been determined the building was in danger of falling down.
   
Mr. Melius provided the Landmarks Commission with his new plan in January.
   
More than a dozen speakers told the commissioners the project was not in keeping with the historic nature of the property.
     
Other residents had concerns about the environmental impact the development would have on the Brookside Preserve, as well as traffic concerns and quality of living issues for neighbors.
   
“This is a monstrosity,” Debbie Williams told the commissioners. Heidi Santa called the building “a cheap hotel.”
   
Dewey Smalls thought the building “looked like a prison,” and Ms. Harrison said it’s “just the wrong building for the area.”
   
Environmentalists spoke about the project’s impact to Brookside Preserve. Aurora Berman, a landscape architect, said “a development with all this asphalt will effect the water quality,” and suggested the  developer build a “green building with a LEED stamp.”
   
John Fisher from the Long Island chapter of Trout Unlimited spoke about the importance of the Milburn Stream at nearby Brookside Preserve for the fish, and Joe Grupp recited a litany of birds – 47 different species – that would be impacted by the development.
   
County Legislator David Denenberg thought the property could remain open space. “Something might be done as part of Nassau County’s open space program. We did an evaluation of the property when the [county environmental] bond acts [of 2004 and 2006] were floated,” he said.
   
Michael Sperling, president of the South Shore Audubon Society, added that the “bond act did offer him [Mr. Melius] money [for the property] in 2004 but he said no.” Mr. Sperling said he believes there is still money from the bond act of 2006 that could be used to assist in the purchase of the property.
   
Vince Campion, a former village trustee, summed up the sadness and disgust many residents felt over the demise of the old Brooklyn Waterworks building.
   
Ms. Reda explained that the Landmarks Commission did not have the authority to oversee the property, only to make sure that the property would be developed in a way that was sensitive to the history of the area.

By Laura Schofer

Laura Schofer, staff writer for L&M Publications, has been recognized with several awards for many of her feature pieces published in Bellmore and Merrick Life, The Citizen and The Leader.