According to Mrs. Muriel Koppell Hammer, resident of Shelter Rock Road in North Hills, the first she heard about a proposed "nursing home" to be built adjacent to her property was a chance mention about a meeting of the North Hills Village Board to be held on Dec. 22. Although she subsequently was informed that the proposed facility will not be a nursing home but rather a senior "assisted living facility," she has not been appeased. The Dec. 22 meeting was canceled, according to Peter Mineo, the attorney representing the builder, REALM, LLC, because New York State had not returned required documentation in time. Nevertheless word had gotten around and approximately 100 North Hills residents came to the Village Hall looking for information.

The property in question, formerly known as the Freeman property, is located on the west side of Shelter Rock Road approximately one-quarter mile north on the Long Island Expressway. It is approximately five acres with significant frontage on Shelter Rock Road. According to the North Hills attorney, A. Thomas Levin, the board voted in November to amend its village building code to permit the proposed use. The Dec. 22 meeting, now rescheduled for Feb. 3 at 8 p.m., was to be a hearing by the board of the application by REALM to build a senior housing facility to accommodate 150 people. It would be owned and operated by the Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged, located at 120 West 106 St. in Manhattan. The original Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews was built in New York City in 1872. The proposed building would be three stories in the front elevation and four stories in the rear. There would be a total of 101 parking spaces, 58 of these below ground.

Mr. Mineo says that he does not believe that the facility would have an adverse impact on the area. "The average age of the residents is mid-80s," he says. "They are not driving any more so traffic is a nonissue." Asked about the traffic that would be generated by the staff, he said that most of the staff would arrive at 7 a.m. and leave at 3 p.m., not peak traffic hours.

North Hills Mayor John Lentini expressed himself as "amazed at the negative reaction" of the residents to the proposal. REALM has agreed to give payments to the village "not in excess of $500,000." Mrs. Hammer says that the village does not need the money since almost all services are taken care of by condominium boards.

A number of the residents who showed up for the aborted Dec. 22 meeting said that they had not been informed of the proposal. Mayor Lentini says that it is not the village's responsibility to inform the residents, but the responsibility of the builder. "It's their problem if they have tainted their process," he says.

Mr. Levin says that all legal requirements have been met. As far as informing the residents, he says that a legal notice appeared in Newsday , the village's official newspaper. Notices of the meetings were also posted at the North Hills Village Hall and in the offices of the condominiums. He says it is the obligation of the applicant to inform neighbors within 200 feet, via certified mail. The applicant must furnish the village with an affidavit of mailing. However, he concedes that some people don't pick up certified mail when they receive a notice that it is at the post office. It is also possible that the assessment rolls, from which the applicant determines who should be informed, are not up to date.

In any case, the Feb. 3 meeting promises to be an interesting one.