Veteran and senior housing in talks for Montgomery

By Nadine Cafaro
Posted 1/11/23

Hawkins Apartment is a potential 3.77 acre project coming to Montgomery to provide affordable housing for seniors and veterans.

Engineer Vincent Pietrzak of Pietrzak and Pfau Engineering and …

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Veteran and senior housing in talks for Montgomery

Posted

Hawkins Apartment is a potential 3.77 acre project coming to Montgomery to provide affordable housing for seniors and veterans.

Engineer Vincent Pietrzak of Pietrzak and Pfau Engineering and Surveying presented the project in 2022 to the planning board. He is representing applicant Jonah Mandelbaum, who is president and owner of Warwick Properties, LLC. The complex proposed is a three story L-shaped building with 80 units, consisting of one three-bedroom unit, 73 one-bedrooms and six two-bedrooms, located on the north side of Hawkins Drive and Neelytown Road. There will be 84 parking spaces, central water, underground utilities, laundry facilities, a pavilion and more.

The complex is part of the affordable, supporting and veteran supporting housing zone, with hopes to house mostly seniors and veterans who meet the income requirements. Back in June at a town board meeting, Mandelbaum mentioned that veterans are the priority residents. “Priority is given to Veterans, then to senior citizens who fulfill the income requirements,” said Mandelbaum.

The income requirements aren’t clear as of yet. Mandelbaum mentions it isn’t exactly their decision. “The Division of Housing dictates every year what the county income is, based on that there’s a formula that we can charge,” said Mandelbaum.

In the middle of 2022, the project received zoning changes from the town. This became Local Law No. 8 of 2022, otherwise known as “Hawkins Floating Law.” The point of the local law was to amend the zoning map to allow for the affordable housing to be built. The local law reads, “The Town Board of the Town of Montgomery declares its intent to apply the affordable, supportive, and veterans supportive floating zone to the parcel listed herein (No.29-1-95.2) in an effort to support the low-income, aging and veteran community of the Town of Montgomery and surrounding area.”

This past Monday, a public hearing was opened at the Town of Montgomery planning board meeting. One member of the public, Mark Briand, spoke to the board about his concerns on behalf of him and his neighbor. “We’re concerned about their building disrupting our well water and contaminating it,” said Briand.

He also had general concerns for their privacy and traffic. “I get up at two in the morning to go to work, so that’s also a noise concern that I have with 80 units going in there. We’re also concerned about how much traffic this is going to add to the area that’s already congested,” Briand added.

Chairman Fred Reichle let Briand know there’s work to do on the project and that they’d be addressing these concerns in the future.

There were also several comments from the board about fencing for a possible dog park, garbage cans on sidewalks, recreation fees, lighting and windows.

Reichle invited Pietrzak and Mandelbaum back for their meeting on January 30 to continue the public hearing and address concerns.