Officials: no permit needed to turn historic land into lot

A jurisdictional loophole will allow the Hewlett-Woodmere School District to carry out plans to transform wooded land adjacent to the historic Hewlett House into a parking lot — without seeking permits. A permit request, had it been sought, from the State Education Department to make changes to the land would have triggered an investigation by the state's Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation office.

The school district says the changes to the L-shaped parcel of land hugging Hewlett House on East Rockaway Road are not subject to the approval of the Education Department, as others might be because these changes are considered "low intensity," and do not include the installation of plumbing or the construction of any sort of habitable structure. The district owns the land and has leased it to the Five Towns Senior Center, which is required to have parking, officials said.

"By characterizing it [as low intensity], they've convinced themselves that they don't have to seek state permission to develop the property," said Brett Klein, an attorney who lives next door to the Hewlett House.

Carl Thurnau, an official in the Education Department's Office of Facilities Planning, confirmed that the construction of a parking lot would not necessarily require the approval of his office. He was not familiar with the specifics of Hewlett-Woodmere's project, and said he sent an inquiry to the district asking to be filled in after Hewlett residents contacted his office.

Neighbors of the project said last week that they were told that the land would also be the future site of a greenhouse. Town officials were also told — though they did not say by whom — that the district intended to build a greenhouse. The school district said it had not yet requested Education Department authorization to build a greenhouse because those plans are still in the conceptual stage.