The Town of Bethlehem Planning Board has forwarded a favorable recommendation to the Town Board on amendments to an already approved expansion project at The Eddy Village at Beverwyck nursing home in North Bethlehem.
The town in 2006 approved plans to build an Alzheimer’s and skilled nursing care expansion to the facility, but officials at Beverwyck said developments in the industry and a glut of Alzheimer’s beds in the Capital District led them to revise the design to a greenhouse style expansion.
The new plan calls for two buildings, each 10,000 square feet and housing a grand total of 24 beds in private bedrooms, a reduction from the original plan. Each building would have a communal dining area and would be aimed at providing a more residential and less clinical setting for residents.
Such facilities are becoming popular in the senior care industry.
The Town Board still must rule on the amendment. The Planning Board made the favorable recommendation unanimously Tuesday, Feb. 16, with members Nicholas Behuniak and John Smolinsky absent.
Beverwyck officials have said they hope to break ground on the $6 million expansion in May, with construction wrapping up near the end of 2010.
Beverwyck opened in 1993 with 85 beds. It now serves 220 residents in independent living and 45 residents in assisted living.
Phillipin Kill Manor floats easement
The Planning Board extended the deadline on the environmental review process for the proposed Phillipin Kill Manor housing development, which has been before the town in various forms for about seven years, but board members had positive comments for the latest developments.
Peter Lynch, attorney for the applicant, said the developer has decided to trim a lot from the northwest portion of the development to allow for a 30-foot wide easement down to the Phillipin Kill area from Fischer Boulevard.
The developer has long proposed offering a 35-acre plot of land for donation to the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, but the Planning Board had expressed concerns over how the public would access the land.
`This was a major comment that we have received during the review process, that it would be a major benefit if we could provide that access,` Lynch said.
While Five Rivers had been hoping for a wider easement, they have indicated the proposal should be acceptable, said town planners.
Planning Board Chairman George Leveille said the easement was `a milestone` for both the longstanding application and for town residents.
`We’ve been trying on projects in this vicinity to get access [to the area]and this is a favorable accommodation,` he said.
Richard Tice of Brewer Engineering Associates said talks with the Army Corps of Engineers about the area’s wetlands were going well, and should conclude within the next 30 days.
The Slingerlands development, if built, would be an 83-building development consisting of 30 twin homes or townhouses, 47 single-family homes and six larger `estate` style lots.
As a Planned Development District, the Town Board would have to rule on the project once the Planning Board makes a recommendation.
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