By:Hector Flores
She raves about her neighbors. "These are just the most decent people you will ever find, and they make this neighborhood just a wonderful place to live," Mallon said.
But she and several of those neighbors are worried that their quiet enclave may soon be transformed into a commerical district by the possible expansion of Belair Care Center Inc.
Mallon and a handful of her neighbors attended a recent Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals hearing to determine whether the nursing home, at 2478 Jerusalem Ave., could expand onto Little Neck Avenue, roughly 20 feet from one of Mallon's neighbor's homes.
"Already, the center has bought three of the houses on the corner as part of their expansion," she said. "The nursing home plans to tear down those houses and build over them. This is a really good neighborhood, and we came to the hearing to let the board members know that a commercial building has no business being built in a residential area."
The BZA, which convened the hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at the Hempstead Town Pavilion, also heard testimony from Belair Care Center representatives, who said the planned expansion is needed to accommodate the nursing home's residents. "The building today holds 102 rooms, with three to four patients per room," said Marvin Ostreicher of the center. "The beds are flush against the wall, and you can't get wheelchairs or walkers into the room. In addition, there are no recreational spaces, and wheelchair patients can't get into the building by themselves."
Ostreicher added that it's a matter of dignity and quality of life for Belair residents, and said that when the building was purchased, there were plans to expand. The center contracted with the building design firm of David, Lawrence, Mammina Architects to develop two plans that would expand the existing 35,000-square-foot structure.
The first design was a V-shaped, two-story building that would expand to Little Neck Avenue. The building would maintain the center's 102 beds, but could hold up to 120. The design would also increase building space by 45,000 square feet, bringing the total to 80,000 square feet. The design required the center to buy the three homes on Little Neck Avenue in 2003.
However, after three meetings with the zoning board and discussions with community residents, a second design was conceived. The alternative called for a four-story building that would accommodate 102 to 120 beds. The new building would measure 79,000 square feet.
But the New York State Department of Health denied the request to expand upward, stating in a letter that the design failed to provide modern accommodations, which are mandated by the state.
In addition, the plans for the four-story building did not guarantee the safety of the patients. The state believes that residents should not be moved from the building because of a construction project. The concern was that a move could prove fatal for patients. According to the state Department of Health, "transfer trauma" results in a 2 to 4 percent increase in deaths among patients.
For that reason, the center decided to return to its original plan, which would cause the least amount of upheaval at the center. But Gerald Wright, chairman of the town BZA, was dissatisfied with the center's plans and believed that it had not tried hard enough in its search for alternatives to tearing down homes.
"I want New York state in this courtroom," he said. "When it comes to the dignity of seniors, I want to know directly from them why they are not allowing for the construction of a four-story building. In terms of zoning, a four-story building is the least objectionable way of meeting the needs of seniors and the surrounding community."
The BZA hearing ended with a decision to put the center's expansion on hold, but local residents still fear the worst. "I don't trust that they will stop at this expansion," Mallon said. "If more residents sell their homes to the nursing home, they will definitely expand onto Little Neck Avenue. No one is telling them not to expand; we are just saying, 'Stay on Jerusalem Avenue.'"
