Riverdalians warn Home
not to seek rezoning

Posted

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale wants to create New York City’s first continuous care retirement community south of it’s North Riverdale campus, but nearby residents are concerned that the size of the proposed building may set a precedent for future developers to build big in Riverdale.

At the first of two “charette” working sessions at the Hebrew Home on Monday night, CEO and President Dan Reingold said that while the Hebrew Home had already done some planning, the working session was “the very beginning of the project.” 

To this point, the Hebrew Home vetted 30 architectural firms for the project, eventually choosing Perkins Eastman, which developed a master plan for the Home that will shift the Hebrew Home’s focus from nursing care to independent living. Their rough plan, which they asked the community to weigh in on before they file any plans with the City Planning Commission, includes the creation of a massive 300-unit independent living residence on the 14-acre lot, the former home of the Passionist Retreat House, it purchased for $16.2 million in 2011.

To build the facility, the Hebrew Home would need to change the zoning on its new plot from R-1 to R-4 zoning, or acquire a slew of waivers and variances to build without a zoning change.

This is a sticking point for many nearby residents.

At the beginning of the working session on Monday, Jennifer Klein read a one-sentence statement on behalf of the Riverdale Community Coalition, a newly created group organizing in opposition to the Hebrew Home’s plan.

“Conform to the R-1-1 existing residential zoning,” Ms. Klein said.

The existing zoning is for single-family homes, like much of the surrounding area. If the Hebrew Home were to conform to that, it could create a village-style independent living community. That would mean far fewer units than what it’s proposing and would also mean that elderly residents would not be able to access centralized facilities without going outside. 

A floor area of 296,042-square-feet would be allowed under current R-1 zoning; the Home’s plan calls for a floor area of 763,790-square-feet.

hebrew home at riverdale, hebrew home, expansion, zoning, city planning commission, eric kandel, palisade avenue
Page 1 / 2

Comments