Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, leading a town which has exhausted its stalling tactics and battle options, is warning local residents that if negotiations to acquire the Underhill property from Holiday Management Associates do not quickly resume, construction of the Hamlet Estates of Jericho could begin within months.

There were handshakes, smiles and an overall aura of confidence back in mid 1997 when state, county and town officials announced that, through forming a consortium and hiring an environmental organization, the state would attempt to acquire the 80-acre estate from Holiday, which entered into contract with Tilles Industries to use the land.

But two months ago, that organization, The Nature Conservancy, suddenly withdrew from the negotiations, and the possibility of 237 new homes built along Jericho Turnpike inched closer to the horizon. "It was out of the blue, [and] came as a surprise," said Venditto.

One inside source indicated that the Conservancy may have been too inflexible in its negotiations.

A call to Dave Vieser, press secretary to Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta, revealed that a second organization, New York City-based Land Fund Trust Company, has quietly and with little fanfare agreed to resume the tricky and frustrating sessions with Holiday.

However, in what appears to be an obvious indication of communication loss and project disorganization, Venditto only became aware of this new development after the Syosset-Jericho Tribune informed him last Wednesday, May 6 -¬ two months after the county initially contacted The Trust for Public Land. "This is all new information to me," he said.

Venditto said that this new organization certainly restores some hope to the community that a deal can be reached, but, as a whole, he still is sticking to his belief that Jericho residents are running out of time.

"I'm not trying to make people panic, thinking it'll be overnight," said Venditto. "The bulldozers aren't rolling in tomorrow...but there's a stark reality here that ultimately has to be faced."

The supervisor explained that if the property cannot be purchased, there is little ground left on which to stand. "This is not like the Cerro Wire property on Robbins Lane. That will still go through public hearings, litigation, all sorts of legal processes...this process has run its course."

Indeed, the property has been ground zero for litigation for over a decade between Tilles Industries, the town and several civic associations. Roger Tilles first sued the town when it denied his first development proposal. Ten years later, both parties were sued by residents after they had finally compromised on a revised development plan. The residents won their lawsuit in late 1997 on the grounds that the compromise plan never was subjected to environmental review. The town, of course, in no hurry for the project to get underway, was not disappointed in the decision.

But the potential for further litigation, said Venditto, is minimal, and the environmental review of Tilles Industries' new plans will begin shortly after the company submits an application to the town and completes its Environmental Impact Statement. Venditto believes this could be within the year, possibly between four to six months. And while the agency investigating the development's environmental impact could recommend rejecting the project, that outcome is improbable.

The only other item standing in the way of construction is a go-ahead by the Jericho Water District, which must determine if it can supply enough of its natural resource, which, ironically, is stored in an aquifer located directly below the Underhill parcel.

If Venditto's concerns are accurate, there could be disheartening ramifications affecting the Jericho School District's plans. The board of education, which recently unveiled a painstakingly developed proposal ¬ taking two years to complete ¬ to renovate and expand most of its schools' facilities, did not account for additional homes built on the Underhill site when designing their plans.

Superintendent Henry Grishman, after one parent questioned why the Tilles property was never factored in during a Thursday, April 30 school board meeting, said that the district cannot anticipate new development when making expansion plans, but admitted that if Hamlet Estates at Jericho is built, "We would have to make adjustments and changes at that time."

However, when Grishman made that statement, the board members did not comprehend how short the Tilles timeline had shrunk, according to Venditto. Since then, the supervisor has spoken with Grishman to stress the urgency. It is currently unclear if that conversation will prompt the board to rethink its strategy.

Joseph Lorintz, president of the Oakwood Princeton Park Civic Association, is one of the most active and vocal opponents of Tilles' development plans, yet he believes that Venditto is overreacting. Even if Holiday won't sell the land to the state, Lorintz explained at the recent Board of Ed meeting, the legal and environmental processes he must go through with the town and county to carry out the project would prevent development for a "long time."

"A 'long time' is misleading," said Venditto when told of Lorintz's statements. "If that's the people's belief, the residents are sitting in a fool's paradise...We don't have another 15 years left."

Although the Trust for Public Land seeks to restore negotiations, it first needs more time to review the property's history and the conditions of Tilles' contract with Holiday developers.

Tilles said in an interview that the decision to sell the property is solely in the hands of Holiday. "I'm willing to accept the money from whomever," said Tilles. "But it's not up to me."

Sources project that it would cost $20 to $40 million dollars to acquire the property.

"We're getting our facts straight and trying to come up with a plan," said Trust for Public Land Project Manager Heather Amster, who has already spoken with Tilles.

But while one company attempts to pick up where another left off, the clock keeps ticking toward what Venditto suspects will be the inevitable day when Jericho's patch of pristine land becomes the newest Jericho neighborhood ¬ a day which perhaps residents will soon no longer deny is coming.