A newly planned remodel of the assisted living facility on 132 Warwick Road has caught the ire of Preservation Haddonfield.
A spokesman for Preservation Haddonfield, Dave Gottardi, said the planned large-scale addition to the facility is not appropriate for a residential neighborhood.
Brenda Bacon, president and CEO of Brandywine Senior Living, said the organization is listening to concerns of neighbors, but the expansion of the facility is ultimately for the benefit of its residents — and won’t be a burden for its neighbors.
Gottardi, a neighbor of 132 Warwick Road, shares a 400-foot border with the property. However, Gottardi said he and several neighbors — as well as Preservation Haddonfield — believe it’s too large an expansion for such a residential neighborhood.
Brandywine Senior Living, a for profit organization, purchased the assisted living facility from Spring Point Senior Living in November 2011.
“My opinion has always been consistent with these types of development. I spoke out about the proposed Bancroft site plan, so it’s not just us being NIMBYs (not in my back yard) with this,” Gottardi said. “It’s not up to us to decide what should be there, but what’s on the table right now and what they’re proposing is its just too big for this residential neighborhood.”
Gottardi did also mention he stands to “lose the most” if the site plan is approved, as he shares the largest border with the property.
Brandywine is proposing the current 25,000 square-foot facility — which was built in 1953 — be demolished, and a new, two-story 40,900 square-foot addition be built on the property. The new facility would keep the same number of rooms — 52 — as the current facility, but would offer several units that could accommodate couples, Bacon said.
The rooms would be enlarged for residents of the home, feature a shower in each room and the new structure would offer a much larger common room — which isn’t in the basement like the current facility — and more entertainment options.
Additionally, the hallways would be wider, Bacon said, a common complaint of residents of the current facility.
Bacon addressed concerns that the historic 1853 home that currently sits at the front of the property would be demolished.
“We would not tear down the historic home. It’s a beautiful home and has a long tradition in Haddonfield. The home will not be touched at all,” Bacon said.
Bacon said the organization understands the concerns of the neighbors of the facility and is modeling its site plan after their recommendations. Bacon confirmed several trees would have to be removed from the property during the construction, but said the older trees at the site would be conserved.
Additionally, the facility would plant several rows of mature trees in the rear of the property and along the side of the facility after construction is complete.
“I think it’s fair that they’re very concerned — and we hear them — as I would be if I were in their shoes. They’re concerned about the size, the look and they gave us lots of suggestions for ways we could improve the exterior and the way it sits on the property,” Bacon said. “We’ve heard many concerns over the proposed parking lot and we want to make sure that when you stand on Warwick Road, you don’t see long lines of parked cars and a ton of traffic and noise on the street. Neighbors don’t want to look at an institutional type building and we actually agree with them.”
The former owners of the home talked about expanding the facility for the past decade, and now is the time to expand, Bacon said.
Brandywine Senior Living has informally presented its site plan to several committees and boards in town, including the Haddonfield Historic Preservation Commission.
Lee Albright, president of the HPC, confirmed the meeting and said the HPC offered several recommendations to Brandywine representatives. She didn’t go into detail of what the recommendations were, but said they would officially be noted at the next HPC meeting.
“The HPC appreciates the efforts of Brandywine Senior Living to further clarify the size of the proposed addition. The purpose of the visit was to walk the site with the plans that had been presented informally to the HPC last month. We asked questions regarding details of the plan that were not clear, such as the location and composition of the fire lane, the existing trees on the property and which trees would have to be removed per the proposed plans, the location of the parking spaces in the front, what parts of the historic building that will be restored, and the location of the interior courtyard,” Albright said.
Bacon said representatives would most likely meet informally with the HPC again to rundown the changes it has made to its site plan, taking into consideration their recommendations and the recommendations of the neighborhood.
Brandywine Senior Living has to first have its site plan approved by the HPC, before then taking it to the Haddonfield Planning and Zoning boards.
Gottardi, who was in attendance at the open house, said Preservation Haddonfield has several misgivings with the proposed plan for the assisted living facility, namely the 40,900 square-foot addition put forward by Brandywine Senior Living.
The proposed addition is about the same square footage as the average Walmart store — 42,000 square-feet — Gottardi said. A nine-space parking lot would be installed in the front of the property, he said, bordering closely to the homes on Warwick Road and additional parking on Moore Lane near a home there as well.
Additionally, Gottardi said Preservation Haddonfield is worried the “destruction of the green park-like setting behind the buildings bordering residential properties” would damage the aesthetics of the current neighborhood.
Bacon said neighbors would be invited to another informational meeting in the near future.
Also, she said that any residents with questions or concerns could call her or Maria Nadelstumph at Brandywine at (856) 813–2000.
