By Mike Caputo
The proposed buildings are the focus of the Woodmere Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center's plan to open a state-of-the-art facility and a parking garage along Central Avenue, between Franklin Place and Irving Place. At six stories, the proposed buildings would be the tallest structures in the Woodmere business district, which consists primarily of one-, two- and three-story commercial buildings. A hearing on the variance request was slated for a town Board of Appeals meeting Dec. 12, but was postponed until March 13.
In an effort to prevent the development, attorney Ernest Weinrib, a long-time Five Towns Realtor is collecting signatures on a petition through a newly formed entity called Conserve the Five Towns Inc. Weinrib, who runs the organization from a Woodmere office on Broadway, sought the postponement of Wednesday's hearing, explaining that community members need a better understanding of the project before anything is approved.
"They have no awareness of the impact it is going to have on the entire community," said Weinrib, who also owns property in Woodmere. "That is why I am upset, because the people are unaware of what the reality of this project is."
On Monday, Woodmere Rehabilitation's attorney, Wayne Edwards, said the center would consent to a postponement of the hearing to a later date. Edwards made the postponement request on Tuesday, and it was granted by the Town. The March 13 hearing date was set on Wednesday morning.
A notice, dated Nov. 12, was sent to all owners of property within 200 feet of the proposed development. The notice, written by Edwards, stated that a new facility for the nursing home was "necessary" because of the extensive modifications the buildings would need to measure up to state and federal standards. The building on Franklin Place was constructed in 1973, while the structure on Irving has been there since 1964.
In a phone interview with the Herald, Edwards explained that renovations of the current facilities are not desirable because of the high cost and the potential disruption of services to the residents. He later acknowledged that the nursing home would look elsewhere if it was unable to secure a new facility in the Five Towns. However, Edwards said, his client hoped to remain an important part of the Woodmere business district.
"Our employees and visitors to the site provide economic stimulus or patronage to the businesses in the area," Edwards said. "If it left the community, it would [create] a void for those businesses."
According to Edwards, there is no other nursing home in the Five Towns. He emphasized that the presence of a neighborhood nursing home makes it easier for families in the community to visit their loved ones.
Although the size of the proposed facilities has worried project opponents, a main concern is their effect on parking and traffic in Woodmere. Through an advertising campaign, Conserve the Five Towns Inc. and the Woodmere Merchants Association have highlighted the parking problem that already exists in the community and how it would be worse during and after the construction of the large-scale nursing home. "We have no parking in [Woodmere]," Weinrib said. "We have been suffering for years without parking."
A six-story parking garage is planned for the property that once housed Brodlieb Motors on the east side of Franklin Place. Currently there is limited on-street parking, a municipal parking lot on the south side of Central Avenue and two ground-level parking lots owned by the rehabilitation center.
Edwards insisted that the new parking garage would satisfy the center's needs and leave additional parking for Woodmere residents, visitors and business owners. Although the parking garage would be run privately, the nursing home plans to allot a number of spaces for the public. The number had yet to be determined, but the mere presence of a garage would alleviate Woodmere's parking problem, Edwards explained.
"Even if we didn't provide one parking space to anybody else, we already improved the parking in the area," Edwards said.
Dr. John Santopolo, who has an office on Franklin Place, said he would not be satisfied with the nursing home's garage. "One of the modifications that the Woodmere Merchants Association would like to see is a parking garage on the town's [municipal] parking lot, donated by the nursing home," said Santopolo, a WMA member. officials, the current lease is set to expire in 2009, and it is unclear what would happen to the current buildings if the project comes to fruition.
Weinrib was also irked that there was little notification about the proposal. "If they had legitimate needs and legitimate cause, why did they have to be so quiet?" he said. "Why aren't they open?" ed all legal requirements. "You don't sneak in a six-story building," he said.
One reason for entertaining Weinrib's postponement request is to organize a public forum, said one center official. "The reason why we are postponing [the hearing] is because we know there are some concerns," said Mitch Teller, an administrator at the rehab center. "The plan is to have an open forum for any community member who may have questions and concerns so that we can actually get this out in the open."
When the new date was set, Weinrib said, he hoped that it would be more than a one-month adjournment. "We haven't had the opportunity," he said. "We need six months, and they have had years to plan it."
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
