School neighbors feel slighted after construction

Sharon Lydon, of Corona Road, East Brunswick, stands near the retaining wall and soon-to-be-finished fence, which runs along the back of her neighbor's property behind the Lawrence Brook School and ends on her property. EAST BRUNSWICK - With school construction nearly complete behind their house, Sharon and Tim Lydon are holding out hope that the school district will follow through with improvements behind their yard.

The Lydons, of Corona Road, say they've been slighted by the school district, which removed a swath of large trees from school property behind their home to accommodate the expansion of the Lawrence Brook School. They've been left with a partial retaining wall that the Lydons said should extend across their property line, and a view of the school building they thought would be blocked by greenery.

School officials said they've tried to address the Lydons' concerns, but the couple contends they were led to believe further improvements would be made behind their yard.

"This is not what we were promised a year and a half ago," said Sharon Lydon. "It's just terribly disappointing. We feel helpless. It's to the point of, 'What more can we do?' "

New construction at the Lawrence Brook School and a retaining wall, as seen from the edge of the Lydon family property. School Business Administrator Bernardo Giuliana, who visited the Lydons' property two weeks ago, said officials have maintained open lines of communication with the neighbors throughout, and that the district has not encroached on anyone's property.

The Lydons said a public meeting was held in 2006 in which they and their neighbors were told that their property values would either be retained or enhanced after construction. They said an aesthetically pleasing barrier was to be erected between the residential and school properties.

"The construction of such a [retaining] wall, with acceptable fencing and landscaping, is crucial to ameliorate a host of concerns, which include safety, liability, trespassing and the potential for water, gasoline, garbage and other pollutants to run off from the elevated ground behind our backyard," the Lydons wrote in a letter to school officials.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SHARON LYDON The trees that existed previously on school property behind the Lydons' backyard. But the Lydons said only their neighbor received such improvements, and the new retaining wall that lines the neighbor's yard stretches only a quarter of the way across the Lydons' backyard. Their neighbor also received "a dense collection of evergreens," they noted.

"Instead of receiving equitable treatment, we have been given a sparse collection of approximately six immature shrubs and a barren parcel of land that slopes into our backyard," the Lydons wrote.

Giuliana said the meeting was held in May 2006 for school officials and neighbors to discuss the residents' concerns, including landscaping and the proposed retaining wall.

"We committed that we would look to do additional landscaping at the end of the project, should the funds exist," he said. "The key to that was, should the funds exist."

Giuliana said the project, a three-school expansion effort approved in a $106.1 million referendum, is nearing its end, and the money is spent.

As for the retaining wall, Giuliana said the contours of the land do not support the wall's extension along the Lydons' entire property line.

"To really extend the retaining wall to the end of the Lydons' property, there would need to be a substantial amount of fill brought in for the wall, to retain it," Giuliana said. "Otherwise you're building a retaining wall to hold nothing."

Sharon Lydon, however, made note of a mound created during construction that sits to the rear of her property, which she said drains onto her property.

"Our backyard floods every time it rains," she said.

Giuliana said that when he learned of the water runoff issue, he notified the architect, and that the issue was being corrected with the installation of a swale to divert the water to a storm drain.

Lydon said she believes the mound could serve as the needed fill for an extended retaining wall.

Lydon, an associate dean at Rutgers Business School in Newark, and Tim, an attorney in New York, question why the school district came through for their neighbors, but left them "with a clear view to a large, industrial drainage basin, the asphalt-covered parking lot, and its collection of emission inducing automobiles," along with the "institutional appearance of the back of the school…"

Giuliana said Tuesday that there may still be some landscaping improvements that can be made, and that the project architect is looking at the options, but the lack of money will be a factor.

He said the Lydons - who have also complained of interior sheetrock damage from ground compaction at the start of construction, an issue that continues to await an insurance evaluation - have been "very patient and understanding." But the school district has abided by its site plan, he said, and has not encroached on the neighbor's land.

"You end up with a project that is an aesthetically pleasing site," Giuliana said. "It's still a school building, you can't change that."