An industrial project in Nassau County got all the way to third base before being thrown out at home.
Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that would have allowed for the development by removing a park easement from the Cleveland Avenue ballfields, a nine-acre property in the Hempstead village of Freeport, Newsday reported.
The ballfields are a protected green space, but a bill from the area’s state legislators would have paved a path for the Village of Freeport to sell the field to California-based Panattoni Group for $49 million. It’s not clear how the governor’s veto will affect the pending sale.
Hochul’s rationale was to preserve athletic facilities for the Freeport Unified School District. Village officials had said student athletes could keep using the fields until a $2.5 million renovation of the nearby Cow Meadow Park was complete.
The fields are disputed territory between the village and the school district. Last year, the village sued the school district for $45 million as both sides claimed ownership of the fields, which are used by baseball teams and other local sports clubs.
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Despite no decision from a judge regarding ownership, the village went ahead and rezoned the site for industrial use.
Village officials had previously negotiated with Amazon about acquiring the land for a distribution center, but Amazon ended those discussions as it scaled back its warehouse leasing and buying.
In August, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a petition seeking to halt the sale of the ballfields, citing the lack of an environmental review. James argued the development would destroy green space and community recreation space, as well as increase flooding and pollution.
Village officials claimed the case was without merit. It is still pending. Mediation between the village and the school district is underway and will resume Jan. 9.
— Holden Walter-Warner