Middletown Says It Objects To Holmdel Memory Care Facility

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The town of Middletown says it formally objects to a proposed memory care center for people with Alzheimer's/dementia next door in Holmdel.

This is the somewhat controversial idea to build a memory care facility at the Potter's Farm property on Red Hill Road in Holmdel.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Middletown Twp. sent a letter to the Holmdel Zoning Board, letting Holmdel know that Middletown objects to the application before the board.

Middletown likely has no say over a building proposal in the town next door. Holmdel Mayor Greg Buontempo declined to comment.

"With clear opportunities to preserve this farm it’s disheartening to see the gateway to Middletown and Holmdel be destroyed," said Middletown Mayor Tony Perry in a Facebook post Wednesday night.

He did not answer any further questions from Patch about why Middletown opposes the project. In the letter, Middletown also asked that Holmdel keep them informed of all future notices and applications for this project.

The facility would be owned and operated by United Methodist Communities; they have an application before the Holmdel Zoning Board.

The Holmdel Zoning Board has not yet made a decision whether or not to approve it.

It would be called The Enclave At Holmdel and the Methodist church seeks to create a village that mimics the real world. There would be one-story houses, gardens to walk around, a movie theater and a grocery store. Patients with Alzheimer's/dementia would live in houses of up to seven people with private bedrooms and bathrooms. All the homes have front porches, so residents can sit on their porch and say "hi" to neighbors.

The concept is based off the Hogewey Dementia Village in Amsterdam and the idea is that older folks with Alzheimer's and dementia can walk to the grocery store, walk to the beauty salon and walk to see a movie from their younger days. The Amsterdam version even has a pub residents can walk to so they can socialize. (The Holmdel version would not have a bar.)

"How would you prefer to spend the last years of your life? In a sterile hospital-like institution? Or a village with a supermarket, a pub, a theatre, a park with an easy walking distance," President and CEO of United Methodist Communities Lary Carlson asked.

Carlson said the project would be the first of its kind in America, and he says if Holmdel Twp. approves it, it will be copied throughout the United States.

"I really think that this model is going to elevate the standard of care for providers across the country. We're seeking to be a model," he said.

Previously, Holmdel Zoning board members raised concerns over how the perimeter would be secured, seeing as residents would be free to walk around from one building to the next.

There would be no big fence around the site, but the houses would form a secure perimeter, with no doors facing the outside, said Carlson.

Carlson previously told the Asbury Park Press that he purchased the development rights to the Potter's Farm property from a previous developer for $5.5 million. That previous developer wanted to build townhouses on Potter's Farm.

But that too was met with backlash from Holmdel residents, who said they did not want to see any development on the farm, period.

Previously on Patch: Plans For Holmdel's Potters Farm Seek To Reinvent Dementia Care (Sept. 2021)

With reporting from Catarina Moura/Patch

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