Putting Up Walls For The Elderly Jewish Federation Apartments will try again to win approval for two new apartment complexes in West Bloomfield. JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER I he plan is to build twin apartment complexes for seniors on the Jewish Community Campus in West Bloomfield. Sounds simple, but Jewish Federation Apartments has waited more than nine months for the West Bloomfield Town- ship Board of Trustees to act on the proposal, which entails an amendment to a zoning ordi- nance. Some have suggested a polit- ical motive for the township's sluggishness; others say the board had to understand the r- - project better before acting on it. JFA Executive Director Marsha Goldsmith said the proposal first came to the township last June. Since then, it has been tabled again and again. "We figured we'd have ap- proval by the end of '96. We knew the technical process of getting the approval would take until the end of the year. It just kind of stopped dead in its tracks," she said. But she's optimistic in light of a meeting early last week between JFA of- ficers and township Supervisor Jeddy Hood. The proposal was placed on the June 2 agenda for a first reading. In the meantime, the amendment committee of the planning commission is putting together the language of the proposed ordinance change. Ms. Hood explained that when the proposal first came to the township board after preliminary approval by the planning commission, trustees were distracted by other mat- ters. She considers a change in density requirements — JFA has proposed to increase the number of units that can be built on each acre — both do-able and desirable. When township ordinances were first written, assisted liv- ing and other facilities for se- niors "were not even thought of," Ms. Hood said. "The senior housing issue has evolved over the last five or 10 years, so now we have some real challenges to our way of think- ing about the way we care for our elderly, and our zoning hasn't changed to accommodate these changes in thinking," she said. On property that is 25 acres or larger, the township is con- sidering raising density al- lowances to four units per acre. JFA wants to build two 100- unit "congregate living" apart- ment complexes to complement its five other facilities in West New Jewish Federation Apartments are at least six months away. Bloomfield and Oak Park. There is a waiting list to get into all the Federation complexes, and a "huge, huge waiting list" for the new buildings, Ms. Goldsmith said. Former township trustee Michael A. Schwartz opined that the long wait for township ap- proval is just business as usual. Noncommercial land-use pro- posals, in particular, linger be- fore the planning commission, he said, noting the struggle Con- gregation B'nai Moshe waged to build in the township. - "We need apartments. People need housing. I've been involved in township government for eight years and during that time I hear about senior housing and how the township is dedicated to it. Here is a project that would do just that, and yet they create all kinds of obstacles to a thing that is positive for the whole community," Mr. Schwartz said. "I have never been in favor of a lot of high-density, high-in- tensive uses of property, but I have also recognized there are certain community needs that have to be addressed." JFA President Gerald Brody noted that JFA has already hired architects but needs to put financing together for the pro- ject. 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