Planning Board to Hear Brandywine Senior Living Expansion Request
The Haddonfield retirement home wants to nearly double the size of its building.
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The Haddonfield Planning Board will is scheduled to consider a request tonight to nearly double the size of the Brandywine Senior Living elderly assisted-care care facility on Warwick Road.
The hearing is scheduled at the monthly planning board meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Municipal Hall.
The borough Historic Preservation Commission rejected the Brandywine request in May. The HPC's denial of a certificate of appropriateness came in the first step any property owner in Haddonfield's historic district must take for major alterations of property.
The HPC ruling is not binding and the planning board has the final say on any request for improvements to borough properties. The planning board recently overruled the HPC on a request to erect a new 6-foot wooden fence at the Methodist Cemetery on Kings Highway East. Nearby property owners on Lee Avenue are challenging that decision in Superior Court.
Brandywine Senior Living at Haddonfield, formerly known as the Haddonfield Home, wants to expand the size of its two-story facility at 132 Warwick Rd. from 23,378 square-feet to 35,920, a 65 percent increase. The footprint of the building will grow from 9,880 square-feet to 15,730, a 63 percent increase.
The number of units in the building, 52, will remain the same, but Brandywine officials are exploring a different configuration that will allow more beds in some rooms. The current configuration has 52 beds. Brandywine officials proposed adding 12 additional beds in the application that was rejected by the Historic Preservation Committee.
Officials there said the expansion is needed to upgrade the facility, which will be razed and rebuilt, except for a historic home that acts as the front facade.
But neighbors lined up for the better part of an hour at the HPC hearing to pan the plan as too big and too intrusive to them and Haddonfield. Perhaps the only silver lining for Brandywine was the HPC vote was split 3-2. Thirteen residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, all against Brandywine.
"The Historic Preservation Commission did what they were supposed to do," said Dave Gottardi, a neighbor near the facility and head of Preservation Haddonfield, a citizen advocacy group. "They protected streetscapes and neighborhoods and green space. They protected a historic property from being gobbled up by a giant, oversized addition."
Gottardi recently stepped down as chair of the HPC, a borough commission whose responsibilities include advising the planning board on the appropriateness of commercial and residential real estate additions in the Haddonfield historic district.
"We're disappointed," said Brenda Bacon, president and CEO of Brandywine, who led the presentation to the commission. "Obviously, we believed we worked very hard to bring a state-of-the-art senior facility to Haddonfield. We're not asking for any variance on massing and size. We meet those codes. We'll continue to pursue. We think seniors deserve to have a quality place to live and not the current structure, which is totally inadequate."
Brandywine Senior Living bought the facility, formerly known as Haddonfield Home, in November for $2.7 million. Haddonfield Home was run by a nonprofit entity. Brandywine is a for-profit company with other facilities in New Jersey, including Moorestown, and five other states. Bacon said Brandywine is prepared to spend up to $16 million to renovate the Haddonfield facility. She said that would mean a substantial increase in local taxes paid.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included information about the dimensions of the proposed Brandywine expansion that was not correct.
In This article
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Haddonfield Municipal Hall
242 Kings Hwy E, Haddonfield, NJ -
Haddonfield Home Assisted Living
132 Warwick Rd, Haddonfield, NJ -
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HaddonGirl
9:46 am on Monday, July 9, 2012
Architecturally, I can see why the HPC denied the plan. The addition doesn't appear to mesh or otherwise blend well with the historic building's design. However, that is something that could be readily overcome. It is a decorative disagreement. From the pictures here, the face of the addition does not appear to be much larger than the current addition. While there is an increase of one dozen units, the total capacity is not an overwhelming number. The improvements should be welcomed. If you had a parent or grandparent that you wanted to be able to be living right here in town -- instead of Moorestown, Voorhees, or some other drive away -- I'm sure you would rather that they had the amenities and conditions which will be provided by the upgraded and expanded facility. There is still ample green and treed space. Yes, construction is neither fun nor pretty. But in the end, the final product -- with a modified, non-dormered addition -- would prove to be a better tax-paying neighbor than what had been there for so many years.
Mr. B.
1:07 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012
This is just one more in the recent line of corporations that want to dictate to Haddonfield how we should plan our community. This project would be disastrous to the neighborhood it is in. The historic character of the original house would be forver altered and everyone who lives around it would lose precious open space and forver have to compete with the additional traffic generated from a large underground parking facility.
This was more than just a "decorative disagreement" with the HPC. I think the HPC was right in recognizing that this project would forvever negatively impact the historic character of this neighborhood. Regardless of what gets slapped up onto the outside of this building, its very presence will render another piece of our heritage and another piece of the very reason people seek out Haddonfield as a wonderful place to live as meaningless.
As its residents we are the stewards of this very old and historic town. We have the right to plan our community in a way that we see fit and in a way that future generations can look back on with gratitude. Allowing corporate interests to make these decisions for us takes that power out of our hands and ruins the future of our community. We mustn't allow this on the principle that we are the ones who are in control of Haddonfield's destiny. If the planning board just lets anything through, why have a planning board at all?
Save Haddonfield! That's what this is about.
Brian Kelly
2:46 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012
Well said, Mr. B...it's about doubling the size of Brandywine to turn 52 units into 52 luxury units while impacting the historical integrity of the area and changing the neighborhood for good, thus affecting the way of life for people who live there.
This is an issue all Haddonfield citizens should stand together on. The back yard of the senior living facility is already staked out for building size and if you don't think that will affect the homes in the neighborhood just take a look at how close those stakes are to people's backyards.
As for the HPC ruling, check out the brick building in question...it's already cleared out and the first floor is boarded up. They are ready to start construction at a moments notice.
This makes two areas of our town where the quality of life is changed for the residents, the other being the entire block of Lee avenue and the fence debacle.
When Brandywine bought the Senior facility the planning board knew exactly what their plans were. It's one travesty after another courtesy of our elected officials who have their own agenda and special interests to take care of.
The only way to stop this assault on our historical heritage and way of life is for all residents to stand together and make our voices heard.
There's a project on tap that will affect you if you don't.
Maryann Campling
5:34 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012
About a month ago I had a conversation with a very good friend of mine about the proposed Brandywine expansion.....she was in favor of it. She and her husband have a beautiful home on Peyton Avenue, where they enjoy their lovely Charleston garden and the security of well kept, appropriately sized houses all around them. I posed this question...."what if this type of building was going to be constructed in the area of West End and Woodland"? "Oh," she said, "I never thought about it that way." Folks don't seem to think about these things unless it directly affects them, I'm afraid. It seems that the powers that be are determined to change the llandscape and character of Haddonfield....I pray that the Board does the right thing by the Warwick Rd/Moore Lane residents....and not what was done to the residents of Lee Avenue. Oh, by the way, my friend has changed her opinion on the project.