Round 2 for Brandywine Senior Living and Haddonfield's HPC

The Haddonfield Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) will once again consider an expansion proposal from Brandywine Senior Living in a hearing tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Hall.

The HPC rejected an earlier proposal from Brandywine in May, citing its nonconforming use in a residential neighborhood and the size of its proposed expansion. Brandywine wants to expand the square footage of its facility by nearly two-thirds. It says it needs the expansion to rebuild its aging facility at 132 Warwick Rd. and add amenities such as showers in its 52 rooms.

Brandywine wants to from 23,378 square feet to 35,920, a 65 percent increase. The footprint of the building will grow from 9,880 square feet to 15,730, a 63 percent increase.

The HPC is an advisory board to the borough planning board, which has the final say on the expansion. The HPC will rule on a request for a certificate of historical appropriateness for the expansion. The commission voted 3-2 against the request in May.

The planning board also denied an application from Brandywine last month. The 5-4 vote came after three and a half hours of sometimes rancorous testimony by Brandywine professionals and members of the public, who occasionally jeered and heckled the board and the professionals.

While the request for a , the board unanimously voted to send the application back to the borough HPC. The plan had been downsized after it was shot down in May. HPC officials successfully argued last month the new plan needed to be reviewed again.

A cadre of neighbors oppose the plan. They say the expansion will drastically change the look of the property and affect their quality of life. They cited the elimination of 20 of the 182 trees on the 2.46-acre property and additional parking on site as elements that would negatively affect them.

Brandywine is prepared to spend up to $16 million to renovate the Warwick Road facility. It has other facilities in New Jersey, including Moorestown, and five other states. The for-profit company expects to pay $320,000 a year in taxes to Haddonfield if the project is approved. The previous owner of the facility, formerly known as the Haddonfield Home, was a nonprofit company and paid no municipal taxes.