For the foreseeable future, the 420-acre parcel known as Greentree will remain green. Environmental groups and planners without exception applauded the decision by the Town Board of North Hempstead on March 12 and certainly groundwater protection is a laudable aim. What we found surprising was the absence of community groups who had hoped to acquire a part of that property for other purposes. There was no one to speak on behalf of the Manhasset Public Library, no one to speak for the Manhasset Public Schools, only peripheral mention of athletic fields. Perhaps their supporters knew in advance that the testimony on the other side would be overwhelming but one wonders. Had the community showed a united face perhaps modest compromises would have been made. As it is, we'll probably never know.

E.F.B.