Here is the status of the Pearsall Project in Cedarhurst

One year has passed since the Cedarhurst village board unanimously approved the Pearsall Project and the project has yet to break ground.

The project would bring 98 apartments and 290 parking spaces on 2.5 acres but nearly four months after the July 2022 approval, the Lawrence school district filed a lawsuit in November against Cedarhurst village and the developer, Pearsall Rock LLC, led by Tommy Lieberman.

According to William Bonesso, the attorney representing Lieberman, the school district challenged the portion of the approval that implemented the overlay district, which allowed the village to change the zoning to permit the project to be built.

“They asserted that the environmental review that the village performed in the process wasn’t done properly,” Bonesso said. “They claimed that they were harmed by the implementation of the zoning district and the approval of the Pearsall Project.”

Bonesso said that he and the village’s attorney, Evan Newman, believed that the school district did not have a legal standing to bring action and both sent a joint motion to dismiss in February.

Both sides await a decision from the judge.

Calls were made to school board president Murray Foreman but were not returned.

“The village believes firmly that we acted properly with the notice and had an opportunity for every resident and every person in that room that wanted to speak had an opportunity to and we took everything under consideration,” Cedarhurst Mayor Benjamin Weinstock said. “We made adjustments to the developer’s plan and approved it.”

Weinstock is referring to the original proposal the developer proposed that called for, three four-story buildings with  112 apartments.

Many village and other Five Towns residents strongly opposed the project —  both versions —  the original plan at a 2021 public meeting and the reworked plan at a meeting last year before the Cedarhurst board  approved the project on July 11 of 2022.

The Pearsall Project was not part of the Town of Hempstead’s six-month moratorium that temporarily halted projects in North Lawrence and Inwood. That building ban remains in place.

“My client has been patiently waiting for the court’s decision and we feel that our papers support dismissal of the proceeding,” Bonesso said. “We do not believe the school district has established legal standing to the client.”