BETHELEHM — A 90-unit senior residential facility proposal continues to be updated as it makes its way through Bethlehem’s planning process. 

The facility, sited at 152 Rockefeller Road, would be a single, three-story building on a 16.7-acre property, with outdoor recreation space and “accessory uses for convenience services for the residents in the building,” according to a May planning board memorandum.

The proposal has evolved significantly since it was introduced in 2023, transforming from a two-building facility with 45 units each to the more consolidated version currently before the board. 

The developer is required to get an area variance for the 90 units it wants, since town regulations would otherwise restrict the number of units to 68, based on density requirements for the property, only about half of which is developable land. 

 The project’s sponsor — prominent senior-housing developer Duncan Barrett, formerly of Omni Housing Development and Beacon Communities — wrote in a memo to the town that, because senior facilities require so much investment in terms of personnel and recreational services, larger facilities allow the costs of these things to be spread out over more units, keeping rents relatively affordable. 

“In reality,” he writes, “the 68-unit smaller scale project would have trouble attracting and retaining qualified management and service staff, and in the author’s direct experience would be economically infeasible to operate. The likely outcome would be elimination of the activities/service package and the on-site staff presence and a failure of the project to meet the very real needs of the senior residents.” 

The developer will also be seeking variances to reduce the required number of parking spaces from 99 to 95, raise the height limit to 39 feet from 35, and reduce the setback from 35 feet to 17.8. 

Next steps for the project are variance applications to the zoning board of appeals for these requests, review by engineers who will provide comments on the March 21 plans, and a possible State Environmental Quality Review action when the applicant comes back before the zoning board after it’s had time to address comments.