Nathaniel Liu is seeking a Special Use Permit for the construction of Assisted Living/Memory Care facilities on a parcel located in a single family residence, 2 acre [R-2] zoning district at 210 Bellevue Road in the Town of Lloyd.

At the very time of Liu’s proposal the Town of Lloyd is considering a change in their zoning code that will prohibit Assisted Living and Nursing Homes in the R-2 acre zone. A public hearing on this zoning change is scheduled for February 20, 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall, 12 Church St., Highland.

David Young, of the Chazen Companies, is representing this project and appeared before the Lloyd Planning Board on Jan. 17. Young’s client is proposing to build on 9.25 acres of the 27 acre parcel that will contain three, single story buildings with a total of 150 units. Two of the buildings, at 26,900 sq/ft and 26,300 sq/ft, would each have 50 assisted living units and a third building, at 26,400 sq/ft, would house a 50 unit memory care facility; for a total of 79,600 sq/ft. There will be 100 properly screened parking spaces provided and each unit will have a kitchen. A total of 40 employees are anticipated to work in the facilities.

This project meets many key requirements of lot area, road frontage, lot setbacks, lot width, maximum building and maximum building height. The project, however, at 13.3 percent lot coverage, is over the maximum 8 percent limit.

“We understand we’re over it and didn’t want to throw any shade and say we’re not over one of the requirements; we are,” Young said. “We know that and we’re going to work toward fixing that.” A possible solution may be in combining two of the buildings or going to two stories to meet the maximum lot coverage limit.

Young noted that parcel not only is in the single-family, 2 acre [R-2] zoning district but is also partially in the Waterfront Bluff Overlay District. He pointed out that Assisted Living facilities are permitted in the R-2 Zoning District by a Special Use Permit with site plan approval. In addition the parcel is within the NYS Coastal Zone boundary, is subject to the town’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan [LWRP] as well as the Esopus Lloyd Scenic Area of Statewide Significance [SASS]. The parcel lies directly across the Hudson River from the Estates District and in particular from the Culinary Institute of America.

Because the site is outside of the town’s water and sewer districts, two private wells would be needed as well as a small wastewater treatment plant.

Young said, “the whole reason for presenting this to you tonight is to get your input on the location, the layout and if you have any comments on the plans.” He said consideration is being given to using a 1.5 acre north pond to meet the storm water management regulations.

The Planning Board touched upon the topography of the site, fire apparatus access and the site entrance.

Building Department Director Dave Barton pointed out to the Planning Board that the Town Board is considering changing the code that would prohibit his project in this zone. He said he informed Young of this prior to the meeting, “so he wouldn’t be blindsided by that information...If the Town Board decides to act, their project becomes moot and Mr. Young goes and does it someplace else where it’s allowed. If it doesn’t become moot then we pursue it.”

Barton suggested that the Planning Board, “sit with this, chew it a little bit in your minds and any questions you have, contact me or reach out directly to Mr. Young and see where we go.”

In a subsequent interview Young said he only learned about the possibility of a zoning change from Barton the day before last week’s Planning Board meeting.

“That’s the first we heard about it and basically we weren’t able to respond to it so we just presented,” he said.

Young said he had been in contact with the Building Department on the project “all along,” starting late last summer. In response to a possible zoning change, Young said, “We’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do at this point. We’re waiting for a response from the developer [Liu] to see what he wants to do.”