Freeport residents question building plan

Too tall. Too dense. Too close to a nature preserve.

For some residents of Freeport, plans to develop the site of the landmark Brooklyn Water Works building are just too much for their village.

Huntington developer Gary Melius proposed a five-floor, 121-unit apartment complex with parking for 200 cars at 25-01 Brookside Ave., adjacent to the Long Island Rail Road. The original building was deemed a safety hazard and demolished in August 2010.

"It is a gigantic building," Freeport resident Michael Pomerico said of the plan. "It is four stories over the railroad station. We don't need another apartment building."

The proposal presented to the village Landmarks Preservation Commission last week represents Melius' second design for the site. He withdrew his first proposal for a 127-unit complex after community opposition at a meeting in April.

"We made aesthetic changes of the exterior to look as close as we could to the [original] building," said Melius, who owns Oheka Castle in Cold Spring Hills. "We are trying."

The new renderings include a building with a peaked tower and dark red facade instead of the originally proposed beige. The building will be elevated to allow ground-level parking.

Melius did not have specific cost estimates for the revised project. "I think it is going to cost more money to build, but if it makes everybody happy, we are going to do it," he said.

His plans must conform to the historical aspect of the Brooklyn Water Works building, commission chairwoman Pietrina Reda said. The building, also known as the Milburn Pumping Station, provided water to Brooklyn until it was decommissioned in the 1970s. It gained village landmark status in 1986. Melius bought the site in 1989.

"Everywhere else where I have developed, I never had an issue except for Freeport," Melius said, referring to opposition from residents. "I am just asking to do what I am allowed to do under the law."

In addition to concerns about the building's size, some residents had questions about proximity to the Brookside nature preserve, effects on the environment and traffic.

"The application is riddled with environmental impact items and nobody has looked at that," said Susan Lyons, a former Freeport village justice, zoning board and planning board attorney.

Nassau Legis. Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick) said he has been working to convince the county to purchase the site under the Environmental Bond Act.

"I would like to see this as an opportunity to preserve open space in the South Shore," Denenberg said.

The commission will hold a second meeting on Aug. 23. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 8 to allow residents who are returning from summer vacations to comment.