In Belmont, Medical Center Looks to Expand

February 23, 2010

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MEDALLIANCE SUPPORTERS MADE THEIR VOICES HEARD AT A PUBLIC HEARING ON FEB. 3

By JEANMARIE EVELLY

A medical center in Belmont wants a section of East Fordham Road rezoned so it can expand its facilities, an effort that’s sparked debate in the community between those who support the rezoning and those who don’t.

Medalliance, a health center at 625 E. Fordham Rd., is already constructing a three-story expansion to its location but wants to add an additional 10-stories of residential apartments above it. Current zoning only allows for buildings up to four-stories high.

A public hearing was held on Feb. 3, where supporters and opponents of the plan came out to voice their concerns before Community Board 6, which ultimately voted in favor of the project on Feb. 17. The community board’s opinion is only advisory but is taken into account during the rest of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

“We are proud and excited about our continued participation in the ongoing and much needed revitalization of the Belmont community,” said Medalliance owner Sean Daneshvar in a statement.

Daneshvar argued that the construction of the project, as well as retail space within the section of the development that he’s already constructing, would bring needed jobs into the area.

“This vision has no personal agenda,” he said. “It has a community agenda.”

Supporters of Medalliance came to the public hearing in droves, chanting and waving signs that read “Better for the Bronx,” and “More Jobs, More Health.”

Theresa Kemp-Castro, a patient at Medalliance for the past four years, credits the doctors and nurses at Medalliance with saving her life after an accident that left her partially paralyzed.

“I’m where I am today because of Medalliance,” she said, adding that an expansion of the center would increase the number of health services available to the community. “There are a lot of elderly and sick people nearby that need a clinic. It would mean a lot.”

Critics of the plan say they’re not against an expansion to the Medalliance clinic—one that is already underway. Instead, they’re against the proposed ten stories of residential apartments that Daneshvar wants to build above it.

Some said they are worried the new development could cause heavy traffic, a thought that Medalliance lawyers tried to dispel by saying most patients at the clinic don’t drive.

One woman at the public hearing, identifying herself as a local resident, said that a 13-story structure would look out of place in the neighborhood.

“How many of you would like to look out their windows and see that building, blocking the sunlight?” she asked.

Other opponents argued that the rezoning was being proposed to meet the needs of one person or group instead of the community at large.

“We think that there should be an overall plan for this entire area,” said Vincent Borgese, a business owner in the Belmont Business Improvement District.

“Let’s take a step back and come up with a good rezoning plan for everybody,” he said.

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