Building owned by founding family of Brightwaters in limbo
The fate of a building owned by the founding family of Brightwaters remains in limbo after the village rejected a proposal to convert it into a wellness center.
The building, owned by relatives of Thomas Benton Ackerson, was built in 1908 and served as the area's first real estate office. Ackerson purchased large estates to start a planned community that is now the village.
Dozens of residents attended the Oct. 24 zoning board of appeals meeting to oppose an application for a wellness center in the empty 2,400-square-foot Ackerson Agency Inc. building. They said the business would increase traffic and does not fit into an area that is zoned residential.
The board voted 4-0 against a “change of use variance” that applicant Anthony Cerabino, who runs an acupuncture business in Bay Shore, would have needed to operate in Brightwaters.
Andrew Darcy, one of about 70 residents at the meeting, told board members they had an opportunity to impact the future of the property by making sure it stays residential.
“All these Brightwaters residents are asked to follow rules all the time. You have to put your garbage out a certain time. You have to park your car the right way,” Darcy said. “You can’t even chase the geese off your lawn anymore. We are asked to follow a lot of rules. We are asking you to follow the same rules.”
Realtor Paul Wernersbach, who was representing the Ackersons and Cerabino, said the building had been used as a real estate office for more than 100 years.
“It wasn’t until the 1930s that municipalities like this village . . . came up with any zoning. Up until then there wasn’t any real zone,” Wernersbach said. “They made it residential . . . to prevent that Montauk Highway area from becoming a main street through the village.”
Wernersbach said at the meeting that the Ackersons had a tentative agreement to sell the property to Cerabino for $1 million. He added the property had fielded two other offers.
At the meeting, Cerabino said his vision for the wellness center would be a “low-impact business” with minimal additional traffic.
He said the center would see no more than 30 patients per day and have a staff of four or five.
“I want to keep the integrity of the village. I’m not changing any of the structure of the building," Cerabino said.
After the meeting, Wernersbach said the board rejected the proposal based on "not in my backyard" sentiment among residents.
"The seller is being compromised for the value of the property based on neighbor's insistence," he said.
Village code does allow real estate or insurance companies to purchase the building and bypass the zoning board.
"If that means I'll have to search out an insurance agency, I'll knock on every insurance agency's door in Long Island and then I wouldn't have to go through this stuff," Wernersbach said.
In September, a state Supreme Court justice ruled against Glen Cove's attempt to block a residence for people with eating disorders from opening across the street from the Nassau Country Club.
Following the ruling, officials with the proposal said they would move forward with the plan to convert the private home on St. Andrews Lane into a 14-bed residence for people with eating disorders.
- What is now the village of Brightwaters was founded by Thomas Benton Ackerson, who bought about 1,700 acres in the early 1900s.
- Ackerson and his brothers filled swamps, dug a 4,000-foot boat canal, installed utilities while building up the area.
- The building at 260 W. Main St., built in 1908, served as the area's first real estate office.
- The neighborhood around the building was zoned residential in the 1930s.
- Brightwaters became a village in 1916.
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