Apartments and Services President
Nathan Upfal. "The wetlands are
affecting where it would be."
The proposed new entrance would
be west of the current driveway on
Maple Road, at a traffic light that con-
trols the flow of westbound cars turn-
ing south into the entrance to Henry
Ford Hospital.
"It makes eminent sense from a
traffic standpoint to add the new dri-
veway," said Michael Pearlman, a
lawyer and former JAS president, who
is representing JAS and the foundation
in negotiations with the township. He
noted that Maple rises up a hill to the
west of the campus and that rise com-
plicates turning into the campus.
Mark Davidoff, chief operating
officer of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, said he is still
optimistic that work on the apart-
ments can start this year. "We're work-
ing through the normal processes with
the township," he said. The timetable
doesn't need to be revised now, he
insisted; "there is no reason to make a
decision until everything is met."
But the township planning officer,
Byrd, said the wetlands question is
only part of the reason for the delay.
JAS and UJF haven't submitted
detailed site and construction plans
yet, said Byrd.
"I've only seen conceptual plans for
the apartments, none that are ready to
be approved," he said, adding that he
was surprised that he had not yet seen
formal plans for the proposed road.
According to Iry Protetch, property
manager for Federation, engineers are
preparing documents to take to the
township for their approval. He
declined to specify which issues need
to be resolved regarding the wetlands.
In Byrd's estimation the road would
be part of the overall approval process
and he expects the projects would be
done in conjunction with each other.
While JAS leadership had hoped to
get in the ground before the first frost,
Byrd said, "It'll be frosty before it gets
done."
Byrd described the review process
for the wetlands and site permits.
"First is wetlands permit approval,
then a site plan review and then to the
township board for final approval.
There are also public hearings at each
step," Byrd explained. "It's much bet-
ter to take a more deliberate and com-
plete approach than have portions
approved without looking at every-
thing.
"Their (JAS) enthusiasm not with-
standinc,b' it will make for a smoother
approval process in the final analysis."
e Wafting (List) Game
Hundreds of seniors have a decision to make about
future living arrangements.
LONNY GOLDSMITH
Staff Writer
slow. Most vacancies occur because of
a death or when a renter has to move
into a nursing facility. While the
Hechtman II has gone three months
without a vacancy, "sometimes we get
one per month," said Kamin.
"We get several applications per
week," she said, while unable to say
for certain how many people have
applied since April 15. "But the list
has also moved along since then."
The average age of people on the
The agency that will oper-
ate 200 new apartments for
seniors at the West
. Bloomfield Jewish
Community Campus has decided one
key question: who goes to the much-
prized head of the waiting list.
According to Jewish Apartments
and Services (JAS)
Executive Director
Marsha Goldsmith
Kamin, the waiting list
for the new apartments,
Phases VI and VII of the
Hechtman complex in
West Bloomfield, will
start with seniors who
had applied for an apart-
ment in Hechtman II
before April 15, 1998.
About 200 individuals
are on that list, with
those at the low end fac-
ing waits of three or
more years for a place in
the existing units.
Ella Baker: Playing the waiting game.
The JAS board of
directors determined the
cutoff date based on
waiting list for Hechtman II is 83.
when publicity began for the new
Applicants pay a $50 fee and get
building. Using the old list as the
$40 back if they decide to withdraw
basis for a new one is a departure
their application.
from past policy, where a new list was
The amount residents will pay to
started from scratch for each of the
live in Phases VI and VII hasn't been
five buildings.
determined yet. "It depends on what
The agency's three buildings in
interest rate we close our mortgage at
Oak Park and West Bloomfield's
and the final construction costs," said
Hechtman I are subsidized by the fed-
Kamin. "We won't know until we get
eral Housing and Urban Development
closer to construction, but it will
(HUD) department, which requires a
[cost] more than Hechtman II."
new list for each facility.
The rent at Hechtman II is $796,
A separate list was started for
and $103 for daily dinners, plus utili-
Hechtman II when it was built in
ties. That gets a renter a well-kept
1992 as an unsubsidized unit that
unit that includes living room, dining
charges market-rate rents. Nathan
and
kitchenette area, bedroom and
Upfal, JAS president, said that
bath
— as well as the amenity of
because the new buildings are also
being on the center campus with free
market-rate and "so similar to
shuttle buses to get to activities like
Hechtman II, we wanted to give the
speakers or the upcoming Jewish
people on that list an opportunity to
Book Fair.
get in."
J AS has rejected a proposal to make
Kamin pointed out that the wait
the
kitchen it will need for the new
for Hechtman II is often agonizingly
apartments large enough to handle
other community functions. Upfal
said the new kitchen is to provide
meals only for residents of the new
buildings, not the community at
large. He added: "If Meals on Wheels
has a need in West Bloomfield, we
potentially have the capacity for that
and will try and make the facility
available." JAS plans to start a formal
new list for the expansion but not
until after construction starts. Then it
will be an estimat-
ed 14 more months
of waiting until the
.`L -' " units are ready for
occupancy.
Kamin noted
that not everyone
on the current wait
list will want the
opportunity to
move into the new
buildings. "These
buildings won't
physically be con-
nected to
[Hechtman I and
the Fleischman res-
idence] and won't
have the proximity
to Danto [Family
Health Care Center]," she said.
"Some may not want to pay more
rent or be more isolated being on the
hill."
But at least one Hechtman II
applicant says she will be glad to get
into the new buildings. She is Ella
Baker, who has languished on the
Hechtman II list for almost five years
due to unfortunate timing.
The 74-year-old Redford Township
resident was in England when her
turn came up to move into Hechtman
II two-and-a-half years ago. She
missed her 24-hour window to
respond and returned to the bottom
of the list.
"I'm so desperate for my time to
come," said Baker, who lives alone.
"I'm craving to get back to my
[Jewish] roots and have a sense of
family.
"I feel like I'm stranded because the
people I know live away from me."
❑
❑
11/6
1998
Detroit Jewish News
15