After more than a month of deliberation, the Garden City village board of trustees voted 5 to 3 in favor of granting Adelphi University a special use permit to construct a three-story residence hall on the northwest portion of its campus.

Brompton Road residents, prospective neighbors of the university's new dormitory, got another chance to plead their case against the new hall last Thursday during a packed board meeting that forced several residents to stand in the hallway.

Residents like the Grays, the Eckels and Jane Murphy Dundon, who currently lives next door to an existing Adelphi dormitory, again urged trustees to turn down the application, which would have forced Adelphi officials to go back to the drawing board and reconsider the additional 11 possible locations for the hall.

"There's been too much sleight of hand," one resident said and felt the board could not logically grant a permit to build a new dorm in an established community. James Gray of Brompton Road said he and his neighbors were never reassured their property values would not suffer. "Like expert witnesses that testify in court, if we property owners had the same economical resources that Adelphi has we could've hired an expert who would say that the loss would be catastrophic," Gray said.

"The 'expert' Dr. Robert Scott brought in from Huntington reached a conclusion he was paid to reach." Gray suggested the board hire a local realtor "who knows Garden City intimately" to render an opinion on the proposed location.

Jane Murphy Dundon, also of Brompton Road, said approving the application would double the unpleasant circumstances Brompton Road residents already endure. "I live at the corner near the Waldorf School, near the present dormitories. It's like living next to a factory so if you approve this application, it will be like living next to two factories."

Another Brompton Road resident reiterated that her property is her home. "Not all bad students attend Adelphi. I'm sure all of us at one point were college students but now I'm a property owner and it's my property. It's my property they're intending to build this dorm on."

Another resident who's lived on Brompton Road since the age of 4 was equally outraged about the possibility of a "180-unit motel," as he described it, being built in his backyard. "I'm not opposed to smart growth but there's 12 sites and Adelphi chose this one," he said. "I used to play on that street [Brompton Road] as a child and now students use that road as a speedway. This new 'motel' would make traffic on Brompton Road even more horrific." The 12 other locations had been considered and were ultimately deemed unsuitable for logistical and/or financial reasons, according to Dr. Robert Scott, Adelphi University president.

Many also felt betrayed by the Estates Property Owner's Association (POA), whose members unanimously voted in favor of Adelphi's application. Richard Schrafel, Estates POA president, was in attendance and heard firsthand how disappointed his Estates neighbors were in him and the association.

Fellow Estates neighbor Ann Gray said, "I feel like I've been portrayed by the property owner's association who didn't see fit to consult with us on the impact of a building behind us." Gray said she also felt betrayed by the Planning Commission, who also unanimously voted in favor of Adelphi's application during a special meeting Jan. 23.

"At the November meeting, the directors of the property owner's association of the Garden City Estates voted their approval of Adelphi University's plan for a new dormitory west of the library," Schrafel said. "We appreciate the careful plans to minimize the impact on Brompton Road residents by facing the entrance inward towards the campus and the plans for the additional planting of trees and shrubs. We know that a thoughtful analysis of the university's campus revealed this site was the most suitable location for the dormitory and the best use of the university's limited resources. The village's own planning commission unanimously agreed."

Denise Eckel said the friction and hardship the application has already caused over the past months is shameful while a neighbor said Adelphi students should not be awarded with a new dorm when they are not respectful to the neighboring property and property owners.

But despite residential pleas, trustees Jon Segerdahl, John Mauk, Brian Murray, Gerard Lundquist and Peter Bee approved the application. Mayor Robert Lewis, along with Deputy Mayor Barbara Miller and Trustee Peter Negri voted against it.

Majority rules, however, so Adelphi University will soon house a 16,000 square foot dormitory in order to fulfill the university's mission to "achieve academic integrity with fiscal stability," according to Dr. Scott. Petra Ludwig, Adelphi's new director of public affairs, added, "To continue to attract and retain high caliber students who have their choice of quality schools, Adelphi must provide additional residences."

Groundbreaking is expected in early April. Construction should be complete in July/August of 2003. This is the first new construction in over 17 years on the campus.