For the third time, a lawsuit challenging the school district's right to develop athletic fields on district-owned property has been dismissed in court. The most recent Article 78, brought by the Coalition for the Preservation of Parkwood Woods against the Great Neck Public Schools and the State Education Department, was ''dismissed on all grounds,'' according to school district attorney Eli Wager.

''This is a tremendous win,'' declared Mr. Wager. ''The case is over.''

He went on to explain that ''the court has determined that there is no standing to sue...and, also, time was barred by the statute of limitations.''

A school district spokesperson further explained the decision, stating that the case was ''dismissed with prejudice,'' meaning that this group cannot raise this issue again.

''We're just delighted,'' said Board of Education Vice President Judi Bosworth. ''We look forward to the fields finally being built.''

Ms. Bosworth went on to say that ''many people worked very hard towards this end---the students, parents, and faculty at North High and North Middle have waited for a very long time.''

She assured that these ''wonderful fields'' will be developed ''in an environmentally sound way'' that will allow the community to enjoy them ''for many years to come.''

Having received a building permit from the State Education Department earlier this year, last month the board of education voted to accept bids for the athletic fields project that will provide much-needed playing fields for North High and North Middle. The fields will be developed on district-owned property adjacent to the park district's Parkwood sports complex on Arrandale Avenue.

All along, the school district has faced opposition from the Coalition (basically a group of neighbors of the planned athletic field site). The Coalition has contended that the fields will negatively impact on the quality of their lives and they have voiced environmental concerns, calling for a full environmental impact statement. And all along the school district has maintained that it has met all State Education Department requirements, followed all state requirements.

The Coalition has legally challenged the project three times with a lawsuit. And all three times the lawsuits were dismissed in New York State Supreme Court. The first two times, the Coalition was successful in ''enjoining'' the schools from taking any action until the court date. This third time, however, the temporary restraining order was not granted, and the school district was free to commence with the project until the court hearing.

The decision on this third motion, yet another dismissal, was signed by New York State Supreme Court Judge Joseph A. De Maro on April 29. In this decision, Judge De Maro first addressed the time issue. The decision read: ''The SEQRA (environmental quality review) determination was final against all including involved agencies. The limitation period is not renewed by each future step (once the environmental issue has been finalized)...The cause is time barred.''

As to ''standing,'' the motion stated that ''...the petitioner has not addressed the motion relating to standing. The only petitioner here is the 'Coalition.' There are no individuals named as petitioners. The petitioner is undefined except that Robert Meyer, its 'President,' resides 'immediately adjacent to the subject premise.' While Mr. Meyer as an individual may have standing he has not petitioned this Court.''

Additionally, the motion read that ''There is also an insufficient demonstration as to capacity to sue...The action is dismissed.''

Coalition attorney William DiConza says that he feels his client had a ''valid case'' and that the Coalition ''certainly had standing to bring the lawsuit.'' Additionally, he does not agree that the Coalition ''should have been aware of the building permit before the school district was aware...''

Mr. DiConza further stated that he believes that ''even though we did not have our day in court, we did accomplish something---they (the school district) studied the drums, they put in the 50 foot buffer, and they looked at environmental concerns a bit more seriously.''

The board of education has long been attempting to develop these fields, in response to numerous requests from administration, staff, parents, and students, asking for additional fields to accommodate the increasing number of athletes and the growing number of teams. The number of girls participating in sports has grown tremendously over the years.

At the board meeting when the decision was made to go out to bid, Board President Mona Fuchs stressed the board has tried to accommodate neighbors throughout the entire process.