Preservation Haddonfield

Brandywine Senior Living seeks Historic Preservation Committee Approval Wednesday May 23rd @7:30

Preservation Haddonfield — Mon, 21 May 2012 01:09:11 +0000

Part of the Problem…..with the Brandywine redevelopment plans for 132 Warwick rd. in Haddonfield is…..

The neighbors near the property have many concerns about the proposed developments plans, they are:

Large massing and scale of the new proposed Building.
Misrepresentation of the current building size- Brandywine has claimed in public meetings, and the local papers, that the current building is 25,000 sq. feet, it is really app. 18,000 sq. ft. not including the Historic building in the front of the property.
The new building will be over 34,000 sq. ft. not including the court yard in the middle and the basement area below the building, some of which is finished living space.
Destruction of the “Park like” setting behind and around the property bordering residential properties.
Destruction of many heirloom plantings and trees including the 75ft. tall Purple European Beech Tree, that some have estimated maybe 100 yrs old or older.
Traffic and parking concerns which have not been addressed by Brandywine.
Water run off and containment.
Building heights, and lighting.
Some independent living units in the assisted facility will be 690 sq. ft., about one-third the size of an average home (US census Bureau lists the average home size at 2,392 sqft.)

The neighbors have no issues with Brandywine remodeling their current facility in place, and staying within their current footprint & elevation.

We are thrilled a newer buyer plans to invest and stay in Haddonfield, and join the tax paying neighbors.

A little about Brandywine Senior Living, the buildings current owners:

Brandywine Senior Living does not own 132 Warwick Road. According to public tax documents, 132 Warwick Road is owned by 132 Warwick Rd, LLC Health Care REIT. Health Care REIT, an S&P 500 Company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, has a market capitalization in excess of $11 billion and a portfolio valued at over $14 billion. In December 2010 Health Care REIT acquired Brandywine Senior Living for $600 million. Brandywine is the operator of the facility and leases the facility back from Health Care REIT as part of their agreement. The bottom line is that our new neighbor in Haddonfield’s Historic District in a residential zone is a multi-billion dollar, national corporation whose stated “primary objectives are to protect stockholder capital and enhance stockholder value”. As stated above, the neighbors have different priorities for our community. We believe that corporations of this magnitude have the resources and the responsibility to renovate this facility on a significantly smaller scale commensurate with the characteristics of our neighborhood.

Why should you care? Your neighborhood could be next! Please voice your opinion at the next Historic Preservation Committee meeting scheduled for May 23rd at &:30 PM @ Borough Hall!

Attention Brandywine- Bigger is NOT better, think outside the Brandywine Box

Stay tuned for more details at Preservationhaddonfield.org or become a member today!

Preservation Haddonfield “Neighborhood Alert”

Preservation Haddonfield — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:11:41 +0000

Brandywine Senior Living is proposing a 40,900 sq. foot addition to its current facility located at 132 Warwick rd. in Haddonfield

Brandywine Senior Living, a “for profit” corporation, recently purchased the Assisted Living facility located at 132 Warwick Rd. in Haddonfield from Spring Point Senior Living in November 2011. They recently held an open house for the neighbors at the facility on April 4, 2012 to let them know of their plans for the assisted living facility. Here are some of the neighbors & Preservation Haddonfield’s concerns:

“Low Lights” (132 Warwick Assisted Living Expansion Plan)

40,900 sq. feet addition (two floors) is as big as most Walmart planned stores, the average Walmart is 42,000 thousand square feet. This square footage does not include the Historic home remaining in the front of the property.

The addition would mean the destruction of Historic Heirloom trees & bushes, including a 75 ft/ tall Southern Magnolia tree & a 80 ft. high Elm tree.

155 ft. of straight wall runs on two sides, and 140 ft. runs of walls on two sides.

The addition of a 9 space parking lot on the front lawn of the property bordering homes on Warwick Rd. & additional parking on Moore Lane just feet away from a residential home.

The destruction of the green “park like” setting behind the buildings bordering residential properties.

Hardscaping or a “fire lane” around all 4 sides of the building.

Some independent units in the assisted living facility will be 690 sq. feet, about one-third the size of a average home in the United States. (Average size home according to the U.S Sensus Bureau 2010 survey was 2,392 sq. feet)

64 beds where 52 exists today. Some units will be 2 bedrooms.

Please let your Historic Preservation Committee members, Planning & Zoning Boards know this large scale addition in a truly residential neighborhood is not appropriate.

Stay tuned to Preservation Haddonfield for more details and meeting dates.

Stay tuned & in touch with Preservation Haddonfield, become a member, or donate, go to Preservationhaddonfield.org today!

Or call Dave Gottardi 856-616 7017

Preservation Haddonfield is meeting on May 10th @ The Mable Kay House.

Preservation Haddonfield — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:39:35 +0000

Meeting Date!

Preservation Haddonfield — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:21:49 +0000

Preservation Haddonfield is meeting in May. The meeting will be held at the Mable Kay House on Walnut St. on May 10th @7:30. Please rsvp if you plan on attending. Hope to see you then.

Design Guidelines soon to be available for Historic District property owners!

Preservation Haddonfield — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:15:15 +0000

Historic District Residents – to assist residents with navigating the Historic Preservation Committee process, when applying for a certificate of appropriateness, a “draft” design guidelines have been developed by the HPC. These guidelines are currently under review by the Planning Board. The Planning Board will be discussing these guidelines at their February 7th meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Borough Hall Auditorium. Public comments and recommendations are welcome at that time. Click here to review a copy of the guidelines.

Important Zoning Board Meeting on September 26 , @ 7:30 about Boxwood Hall.

Preservation Haddonfield — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:45:11 +0000

Judge Orlando has ruled that the Haddonfield Zoning Board of adjustment must re-look at the application for Boxwood Hall at 65 Haddon Ave. The application heard last year was for 50 “townhome” style units on the open/green space located behind one of Haddonfield’s most historic properties. The application did include a low and moderate income element. This is a very important meeting for Haddonfield residents to attend and may rewrite land use law in the Borough and other NJ communities forever. The Historic Preservation Committee and the Zoning Board both rejected applications for high density development recently on the property.

The demolition epidemic rolls along unchecked for Haddonfield’s Historic properties.

Preservation Haddonfield — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:16:44 +0000

This high Victorian dwelling behind the CVS Pharmacy will be lost forever @ 20-22 Ellis St.

This expanded “California” Style bungalow was demolished recently @ 264 Mountwell Ave. in Haddonfield. Neither of these properties was located in Haddonfield’s protected Historic District where demolition of properties needs Historic Preservation Commission approval. Other recent “tear downs” include the American Four Square previously located @415 Washington Ave.

Tanner St. construction update..

Preservation Haddonfield — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:06:49 +0000

Just an update on what’s going on out there, or actually what’s not at this point. The Borough has been dealing with the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO) over the past month in order to receive final approval for the roadway project. In order to get the project moving as quickly as possible, the SHPO approval has been split up into the following three “phases”:

Phase I: Tree removal of all diseased and hazardous trees, as previously approved by the Shade Tree Commission.
Phase II: Construction of all improvements (curb, sidewalk, roadway) for the entire road except for the widened parking areas adjacent to the library.
Phase III: Construction of the widened parking areas adjacent to the library, including removal of the six trees in that location.

The Borough received final approval for Phase I on Monday, June 20. The contractor’s subcontractor for tree removal began the project by removing the tree at the Bistro on June 22, which took two days to take down. They then ran into an issue on the tree at #12 Tanner as the subcontractor was apparently not qualified to remove the tree in such conflict with the overhead wires, and pulled off of the job. In the mean time, the Borough finally received approval for Phase II of the project on Monday, June 27; however, the contractor had already rearranged their crews onto another project and do not have these crews, along with a qualified tree removal subcontractor, scheduled to come back to the Borough to begin work on the curb replacement until after the Holiday on July 5.

Due to this delay and the upcoming Holiday, we have directed the contractor to remove the lane closure and detour until next Tuesday when they return, as suggested by a few of the merchants. Therefore, Mr. Delaney and his crew will be by sometime this evening to remove all of the barrels, cones, barricades and signs in order to completely open the road for tomorrow and through the Holiday. The closure and detour will then again be put in place next week when they return to do the work. Once here, they should proceed until completion of the project with no further delay as the Borough is continuing to pursue final SHPO approval for Phase III, and hence the entire project within the next few weeks.

See the latest plan for Bancroft here…

Preservation Haddonfield — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:20:58 +0000

See the plans for the Bancroft redevelopment here as presented to the Planning Board on June 15th 2011….

Bancroft plans