Plans to Double the Size of an Assisted-Care Home Has Some Seeing Red
Brandywine Senior Living wants to transform the former Haddonfield Home.
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A plan to nearly double the size of an assisted-care living facility on Warwick Road has some neighbors there seeing red.
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 16,900 square feet to 33,800 square feet, from 52 units to 64. 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.
The group submitted an expansion plan to the borough's Historic Preservation Commission on Friday and hopes to have a hearing on the proposal at the next HPC meeting on May 23. The HPC must rule on a certificate of appropriateness before the plan can be presented to the borough planning board.
Some neighbors and community groups, such as Preservation Haddonfield, have come out against the project.
"Who could conceive of anything like that passing the boards here in Haddonfield," Thomas Morrissey, a borough resident wrote recently on Haddonfield Talks, the local Internet chat room after Preservation Haddonfield issued a 'Neighborhood Alert.' "That would create a dangerous precedent that could 'pop up' next to anyone. What can we do to see this project to its rightful demise?"
Brandywine President and CEO Brenda Bacon said she understands neighbors' concerns and has modified renovation plans after three community meetings and two informal presentations to the HPC. One of the modifications is underground parking instead of additional parking in the front of the facility.
"We're trying to make each design better and more responsive to the neighbors," she said. "We never expect the neighbors to jump up and down and say this was a wonderful thing, but the home has existed here since 1953. We're now happy to be a taxpaying part of the community."
Brandywine Senior Living bought the facility, formerly known as Haddonfield Home, last November for $2.7 million. Haddonfield Home was run by a nonprofit entity but 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 will mean a substantial increase in local taxes paid.
Brandywine wants to increase to 64 units from its current 52. Bacon said the new units will add showers in each room. The existing room bathrooms have no showers. Recreation and entertainment rooms are currently in the basement of the facility, which has no windows, she said. The new plans call for upgrade, including a patio.
Bacon said Brandywine is also trying to counter claims by Preservation Haddonfield, a historic preservation advocacy group, that the expansion will be "the size of an average Walmart." The group said 42,000 square feet is the size of an average Walmart on literature it has distributed to fight the expansion. But that information is incorrect.
The average size of a Walmart is 108,000 square feet, according to the superstore chain's website.
Bacon said Brandywine is rolling out its expansion plans in "real time." The information is so fluid that she reported the size of the existing facility is actually 16,900 square feet, not 19,760 square feet as they had cited in meetings with the community and the HPC. Bacon said they were relying on an independent site-condition report prepared prior to their acquisition of the property. It was not correct, she said.
Bacon said the impervious coverage of the 2.5-acre site after the addition will be about 30 percent of the entire lot's 29,400 square feet. The current building takes up about 28 percent of the lot, she said. Bacon said plans call for keeping all but a handful of the 182 trees on the lot and a fire lane will only extend halfway around the building.
She said Brandywine is trying to address neighbor concerns while trying to improve the quality of life in Haddonfield's only assisted-care, senior living facility.
"This is not the most efficient plan for us," she said. "It's going to cost more money, but we're trying to respond to some of the concerns."
Jack S
9:28 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The Haddonfield Preservation Commission and our other elected/appointed officials need to hold Brandywine to the strict letter of our local ordinances, without variance. A larger senior living facility could conceivably bring in additional ratables, but the reason people choose to live in Haddonfield in the first place -- despite the sky-high taxes which rarely if ever decrease meaningfully -- is that Haddonfield still has a suburban feel. Growing a high-traffic businesses in the midst of residential areas risks turning our suburb into an urban environment. I can appreciate Brandywine's business acumen in purchasing such a large property for $2.7 million (which is not much more than what some homes go for in Haddonfield), but that does not give them the right to walk all over our local ordinances. (This foreshadows a request by Goodwill to demolish the property they just purchased on Grove and turn it into a high-volume retail outlet. Will our local officials continue to be so naive?)
Sue Martin
9:44 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Absolutely no way, in no possible form or iteration should this madness be considered. This is a residential neighborhood! Underground parking garage? What the heck....!
The proposed changes to the Haddonfield Home are jaw-droppingly audacious. This Borough has ordinances in place to protect residents from this kind of nonsense; the ordinances must be enforced.
Brian Kelly
11:21 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Brandywine bought this place with the intention of expanding it and maximizing their profits. This is what businesses do and they should have been told prior to their investment there will be no building in Haddonfield. The assault on the historical integrity of our town continues and make no doubt about it, our elected officials are right in the middle of all this. I feel so badly for the people living on Moore lane, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. Their quality of life will be affected forever and it's happening all over the town. It's time for the citizens of our great town to unite and take a stand because if we don't the Haddonfield we know and cherish will be gone forever. Jack S hit it right on the head when he said Haddonfield is a suburban town in danger of turning into an urban environment. However, there's one thing our local officials aren't, and that's naive. Just look at the scope of the projects these people put forth and imagine the impact they would have on our town...the destruction of historical history, the millions of dollars of debt and traffic jams like you can't believe...and that's just the beginning. The agenda of these people is progress without conscience and I want to know one thing. Who is profiting from this?
Sue Martin
11:38 am on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Always follow the money....
Wendy Kates
7:26 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Fences and Banners and a sharp decline in manners,
Turf Fields and Bancroft and Boxwood and Tanner,
Goodwill will cause Badwill and the High School needs some paint,
The landscape is in crises and the Leaders need restraint.
So who can heal this Drama with no agenda of their own,
And save this town from trauma before its image's blown.
So hope that some with wisdom will step up to the plate,
And save this Town from madness before it is too late!
Sue Martin
11:31 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Love this--gosh, do we ever need some wisdom--
Maryann Campling
7:54 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
And madness it is....what the heck is happening to this town. Have it be known that I am a card carrying, free market Capitalist, but, as Mr Kelly stated, progress without conscience shouldn't be tolerated in our community. I wonder what neighborhood will next be under assault. I feel so bad for our neighbors on Warwick Rd, Moore Lane and surrounding area. Their quality of life and slice of the American dream is being threatened. I applaud and admire the work of our HPC, a more dedicated, intelligent and balanced group doesn't exist, but remember, their hard work and opinion was completely ignored by the Planning Board last December, when the stockade fence in the Methodist Church cemetery was approved, and a wall was constructed bordering our l5' deep Lee Avenue backyards. So, friends, I will attend meetings and speak out for you every chance I get, but I am not optimistic....it's all about $$$ and image in H-field these days; not what's in the best interest of the tax paying residents. And Wendy....great poem!