Lawrence School District seeks home to build play area

The Lawrence School District is moving ahead with plans to acquire an occupied home at 287 Mott Ave. in Inwood by right of eminent domain in order to build a new playground on the Number Two School campus for students at the Lawrence Primary School.    

Eminent domain allows a government body, such as a school district, to acquire a property for public use in return for “just” compensation.

The district originally planned to acquire the property to create 14 parking spaces and “reconfigure” the recreation area. The revised plan calls for a multi-sport area on the acquired space. No parking would be added to the already existing 94 spaces.

“What’s being added is this additional playground,” Michael Mark, of the Hicksville-based Mark Design Studios, said at a roughly 20-minute-long public hearing on Monday. “It’ll be for kids 5 to 12, and could be used for ages 2 to 12, based on the selected components.” He added that the play area would not negatively impact the environment and would be enclosed.

District officials presented their case at the hearing to acquire the Mott Avenue property, which includes a two-story, seven-room, 1,072-square-foot house that sits on a 5,652-square-foot lot. It was built in 1920. A family lives there now, but does not own the home.

According to the Nassau County Department of Assessment, the home was valued at $250,000 last year, and now has an identical value. It was sold for $385,000 on Sept. 11 last year, according to realtor.com. Property taxes for 2020 are $4,279.09, according to the county.

The current property owner is listed as 287 Mott Ave LLC, based on district documents. According to county records, ownership of the house was transferred three other times: in December 2003, in a sale for $255,000; in 2005, at no cost in a sale between relatives; and in August 2006, in a similar no-cost sale between relatives. 

Lawrence Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen noted that the school now houses younger children than it did a few years. The primary school has an enrollment of 500 students in kindergarten, first and second grade, ranging from ages 5 to 7, she said.

Pedersen said that play translates into better classroom performance and increased social skills among children. She pointed to studies, including a 2018 Harvard report showing that children are not likely to be reading at grade level in eighth grade if they are not at level in third grade. 

“Looking at all the research and looking at how to best meet the academic benchmarks that occur for young children, we feel a real strong correlation that they have play,” Pedersen said. “By improving play, we are going to help build a better brain.”

Two school district residents asked questions and a representative of the property owner, Matthew Henrich, read a prepared statement.

“There are two issues here: price and purpose,” Henrich said. “The district has failed to make any mention of price in discussions with the owner and has failed to indicate how acquiring the property accomplishes a public purpose, since pursuant to the revised site plan, the school will have the same number of parking spaces as it did prior to the discussed purchase.

“Further, the proposed playground expansion can be accomplished without acquiring the property in question,” he said. “The district is wrong in proceeding with eminent domain and has improperly overreached and has acted unfairly towards the owner and residents of the property.”

The school district will now have an appraiser value the property. Then a price will be offered and submitted to the court.

Public comments can be submitted until Feb. 17 to Mohinder Bharaj, District Clerk, Lawrence Public Schools,  P.O. Box 477, Lawrence, N.Y. 11559, or mbharaj@lawrence.k12.ny.us.

Have an opinion about the possible acquisition of 287 Mott Ave.? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.