FALL RIVER — A vacant lot on Highland Avenue ringed with chain link that some claim has a house-sized crater from a previous demolition might be getting a makeover — but it’s unclear whether it will be a single-family home like the rest of its neighborhood and the city’s zoning district.
Dr. Rajiv Nehra, a chiropractor, is seeking to build a medical office steps away from Charlton Memorial Hospital, where he aims to run a practice with his son.
Nehra, who owns the property at 547 Highland Ave., had plans to build a medical campus there, which were paused in 2015.
Currently, Nehra operates the Fall River Spine and Disc Center at 415 Elsbree St. after an unexpected property sale of the center’s former location on Hanover Street sent Nehra on the hunt for new office space. His plans for the lot include a two-and-a-half story, 7,500-square-foot medical campus on an acre of land.
What would the medical building plans look like?
At an Aug. 21 meeting, Nehra sought a variance from the Fall River Zoning Board of Appeals to convert his lot to medical offices, waiving lot coverage requirements.
All off-street parking requirements would be met, and the parking lot is designed on the east side of the lot behind the building and opposite Highland Avenue, in consideration of the aesthetic values of the neighborhood.
The office space would offer a spate of medical services, including chiropractic, massage, neuromuscular, skeletal rehabilitation, nutrition and general wellness services. It would operate Monday through Friday between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Citing pushback from neighbors whose concerns of a “medial campus” in the heart of the Highlands historic neighborhood, the zoning board tabled the matter until the Sept. 18 meeting, with Nehra agreeing to work with his engineer and architect to be more conservative in the size of the building, and to update his needs for adequate business signage.
The number of proposed employees, which was proposed at six practitioners, will need to be accounted for in future planning.
“I want to be a good neighbor,” he told members of the board.
Decade-old petition resurfaces with updated plans
Attorney Peter A. Saulino, who represented the petition at the August meeting, said a similar petition for the same address was heard and approved by the board in 2015. A site plan review was completed before demolition of a pre-existing house took place, said Saulino, but he added that the city’s Director of Inspectional Services Glenn Hathaway has not yet conveyed that the decade-old approval is valid.
“The timing was the issue,” said Saulino, referencing the sale of the Hanover Building that landed Nehra with an eviction notice and 30 days to vacate his office. Nehra had purchased space on Elsbree Street to house his offices in the interim.
Now, after 25 years serving Fall River and with the prospect of entering into a practice with his son, who is due to graduate from medical school this coming fall, Nehra is “in a little bit of a different situation,” Saulino said.
Nehra has tried to sell the Highland Avenue property for eight years but has received no offers for single-family home dwellings, Saulino added, evidencing a hardship associated with the property, despite its location in a single-family zoning district.
“It’s unequivocal that it’s four or five addresses from the hospital,” said Saulino, calling the build, that has gained a letter of support from Bristol County Economic Development Consultants Executive Vice President Ken Fiola, “complementary” to the area.
What’s in the new plan?
Nehra addressed the board by saying that the office footprint of 3,545 square feet has shrunk in size.
“I wanted to be very sensitive to the neighbors,” Nehra said, citing the change from having side and front parking lots to pushing the parking to the back of the almost three-story building, mostly hidden from view of the street.
Nehra said the façade of the building “is very consistent” with the historic character of neighboring homes, and that he intends for the build to be “synergistic” and “harmonious” with the Highland community, or a future “medical health district,” he said.
Abutters resist ‘huge’ build in historic neighborhood
Though there is an office space at 484 Highland Ave. offering a suite of medical and cosmetic services with Dr. Mark Lowney in the vicinity of Nehra’s proposed build, neighbors, and the owner of an adjacent nursery, took aim at the project, raising concerns of traffic congestion, parking, and the sheer size of the build.
“It does change the nature of the neighborhood when you have an expanding hospital at the centerpiece,” zoning board Chairman Joseph Pereira agreed.
Lucian Gendreau, whose property at 573 Highland Ave. directly abuts the lot where proposed construction may take place, expressed his desire to see the single-family dwelling neighborhood kept that way.
Dr. Lars Boman, who lives directly across the street at 548 Highland Ave. and who was a physician at Charlton for 20 years, said he appreciates the aesthetic components presented in renderings of the build, but maintained that “this is an enormous structure.”
To Boman, too many cars go speeding down the avenue as it is. “You do not need to be near a hospital,” he said, saying that parking seemed insufficient.
Susan Rowe, the program director for Ninth Street Day Nursery at 533 Highland Ave. said she’s concerned about traffic when it comes to the safety of her 36 students.
Others railed against the day school that operates commercially, claiming it has brought litter and large signage to the neighborhood.
Some call for action on vacant lot
A resident living on Davol Street called the overgrown land an “eyesore” and said, “it’s time someone took over … and put a nice building there.”
Developer Aaron Tetrault said he expects the construction will be “aesthetically pleasing,” at the same time his remarks attempted to quell concerns of traffic congestion.
JoAnne Breault, a patient of Nehra’s evidenced her own experiences receiving treatment after a car accident. She said the new location could be “beneficial to all residents of Fall River.”