Hebrew Home alters expansion plan

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale altered its proposal for a continuing care retirement community, but the changes were not extensive enough to ease concerns of nearby residents and local leaders.

At Community Board 8’s Land Use Committee meeting on April 10, representatives of the Hebrew Home unveiled a new plan for the lot located next door to its campus, a plot it purchased from the Passionist Fathers for $16.25 million in 2011.

The most significant change from the plan the Home unveiled in January concerns lot coverage and the connection of internal roadways between buildings for use by staff and service personnel.

The main building has been shifted north and its square footage has been reduced from 543,000 to 444,000 square feet. The new proposal includes buildings with three towers of six, seven and eight stories. The original plan included four towers of four, six and eight stories.

To make up for reductions in housing on the new campus, the Hebrew Home’s plan includes two new buildings (of three and four stories) on its existing north campus, up from one three-story building. The overall facility will still provide 300 units for independent living and about the same amount of parking as the original proposal. The total building coverage was reduced slightly, from 135,036 square-feet to 130,833 square-feet.

The original plan had separate internal roadways for staff and service, but this plan connects the roadways.

Local leaders and residents said those were steps in the right direction.

But the Hebrew Home’s announcement that it will seek to amend the city’s Special Natural Area District law to construct the new facility on a R-1-1 zoned lot did not sit well with many people, including Councilman Oliver Koppell.

“If I’m in the Council, there’s no way I would allow that, presuming I would have the power to stop it, and I would,” Mr. Koppell said.

Riverdale is one of four Special Natural Area Districts in New York City. The purpose of SNAD, according to the City Planning Commission, “is to guide new development and site alterations in areas endowed with unique natural characteristics, including forests, rock outcrops, steep slopes, creeks and a variety of botanic and aquatic environments.”

In order to build on the R-1-1 zoned lot, the Hebrew Home at Riverdale needs the zoning changed to R4 zoning or have the city issue a large number of waivers and variances to build without a zoning change, including an amendment to the SNAD rules.

“The Hebrew Home at Riverdale would like to minimize the zoning actions necessary to accomplish our mission of providing housing and care for older adults. This amendment will enable the commission to consider by special permit an independent living facility in an R 1-1 district,” Gary Tarnoff, counsel to the Hebrew Home, said in a statement.

In January, many nearby residents expressed outrage at the idea of the Hebrew Home changing the zoning to R4 after Community Board 8 of a decade ago fought hard on behalf of the residents to have that area down zoned.

Charles Moerdler, chair of CB 8’s Land Use Committee, said Hebrew Home’s current proposal, which asks for a zoning variance, will result in the same outcome as a complete rezoning.

“It’s a semantical game that won’t get very far, and I believe that,” Mr. Moerdler said.

On behalf of the Riverdale Community Coalition formed in opposition to the Hebrew Home proposal, Jennifer Klein wrote in an e-mail that amending SNAD would set a “terrible precedent.”

The changes in the design were largely seen as a step in the right direction, but still not good enough.

Paul Elston, president of the Friends of the Hudson River Greenway in the Bronx, said he was impressed at the changes, including shifting the campus north and moving all the traffic inside, but he was also very concerned about any amendments to SNAD.

“This is a rezoning by another name,” Mr. Elston said.

Mr. Koppell said he thought the plan had been improved, but not enough for him to support it.

“I think it’s an improvement, but I’m certainly not ready to say it’s enough of an improvement,” Mr. Koppell said.

This is just the beginning of a long process that will include a public hearing, Mr. Moerdler pointed out.

“I think this is an evolving discussion,” he said. “This is the beginning of a dialogue.”