Briarcliffe Manor owner Akshay Talwar hopes to add assisted living facility to Johnston campus

By BETH HURD
Insider Reporter

Less than a year after completing Briarcliffe Gardens, an Alzheimer's care facility, Briarcliffe is hoping to expand even further, adding an assisted living component to its existing campus on Old Pocasset Road.
The Johnston Planning Board is leery, however, in part because of the size and in part because of what board members called "vague" language in the proposal.
At the planning board's June 1 meeting, Briarcliffe attorney Bill Landry talked extensively about the benefits of the project, which the company has laid out as a planned district.
Planned districts exist in town zoning law so large-scale developments can be viewed and approved as a whole, and so the town can make sure minimum amounts of open space and "neighborhood character" are preserved. The catch is, Johnston requires a minimum of 20 acres for a planned district; Briarcliffe has maybe 12 acres at the most.
“If we allow less than 20 acres, we’re opening this up for the town,” said Planning Board Chairman Anthony Verardo. "There’s a purpose [for the requirement]; we’re doing these planned districts in neighborhoods."
Landry and Briarcliffe President and CEO Akshay Talwar, however, see things differently. THey were asking the board to essentially bend the rules in their case, adding language to the law that permits the board to waive the 20-acre restriction in the case of a project “where it deserves to be waived.”
Landry said it would be difficult to find a 20-acre parcel of buildable land anywhere in Johnston, which might cause other “good projects” to seek building elsewhere. He suggested the Planning Board decide on a case-by-case basis (and, of course, approve Briarcliffe's request).
“Twenty acres is a lot of land,” Landry said.
Briarcliffe generated significant opposition from neighbors when it sought approval for Briarcliffe Gardens back in 2008. Many of those neighbors attended the June planning board meeting but none spoke – either in opposition to or in support of the project.
Talways says because this new facility will be an extension of the existing campus, there should be no issue of it blending in with the neighborhood. He pointed out the facilities are quiet and do not add considerably to traffic on Central Avenue.
“We already have a campus with a 120-plus bed nursing home. The original complex was supposed to be a hospital in the 1960s," Landry pointed out.
Talwar also sees the expansion as serving the greater Johnston community. The new Briarcliffe Gardens facility is currently at 70 percent capacity and, he said, during the grand opening celebrations he was repeatedly asked about creating a facility for those who don’t yet need nursing home care.
“We’ve actually created a magnet, people are coming from all over,” Talwar said, pointing out his residents come from all over the state and even from other states. “We’re bringing people into the building, and they are getting better – almost every single resident has shown improvement.”
Talwar said he could build a similar project in another town, but his preference is to continue on site, where he also lives.
The board recommended the request be continued to its July meeting, held this week. It's unclear whether Briarcliffe will get the approval it's seeking. Although the project includes the required percentage of open space, Town Planner Pamela M. Sherrill raised several concerns about frontage, “preservation of the harmonious character” of the neighborhood and the preservation of “unique, natural features.”
“We really need to think about what’s best for the town,” she said.