Last week attorney John Furst and Media Consultant Geoff Thompson offered an update on the Assisted Living facility that has been proposed for Route 9W by Florida-based developer Mark Owen Sanderson. The representatives have been seeking a waiver from the building moratorium that was put in place by the Town Board in January so they could appear before the Planning Board to start their site plan review.

Sanderson is proposing a two-story building that will be 45.5 feet in height at the peak of the roof line, 366 feet in length and 70 feet in depth. It would include 135 units, 35 of which are studios reserved for memory care patients. Of the remaining 100 units, 75 are to be 1 bedroom and 25 are studios. Some of the units will be considered enhanced care and residents of these would receive a higher level of staff and nursing services.

Furst has repeatedly stated to the town that Sanderson at this time is only seeking a waiver from the town moratorium to allow the project to move to the Planning Board.

As is required, the town sent the details of this project to the Ulster County Planning Board [UCPB] for their review. Furst attended the June 3rd UCPB meeting by phone and commented on key additional aspects of the entire mixed use senior housing project that was initially proposed across the 53 acre property: 219 independent senior housing units, a clubhouse and a stand alone Urgent Care/Medial Office facility. Furst highlighted numerous aspects of the zoning code changes in Lloyd that would adversely impact his client’s project. He noted that the town’s intention to implement a Planned Residential Retirement Development [PRRD] district into the code is inconsistent with the current Comprehensive Plan and would prevent senior housing from being built in Lloyd.

Furst noted that the PRRD would only allow 172 senior housing units to be built on the parcel, however, the designations of Planned Unit Development [PUD] and Planned Residential Development [PRD] that are presently in the code would allow far higher densities; 543 and 795 respectively.

“For a PRRD you have to subtract a lot of land before getting to the calculations, which is not the case for a PUD or PRD. So this is inconsistent for what they [town] are proposing for seniors now and is inconsistent for what is on the books for everybody else,” he said.

Furst noted that 100 foot setbacks for a single family home is unnecessary and pointed out that the front setback for his client’s Assisted Living facility could be anywhere from 200 to 400 feet and would push it back and outside of the commercial corridor. The Town is looking to establish a stipulation that for every 100 feet in the length of the front of a proposed building, the building must be set back 100 feet. In the case of the Assisted Living facility, its proposed length of 366 feet would push it off of Route 9W by the same amount, 366 feet.

Furst also objected to the proposal of 8 beds per acre when existing conditions at four local senior facilities are, on average, 28 beds per acre. He also analyzed single family housing in three areas of town and said there are about 8.5 units per acre, “and in our case they are allowing 4 units per acre.”

Furst pointed out that the PRRD regulations would allow the Planning Board to further reduce the density after the Town Board had established the number for a given project. He believes this is, “outside of their jurisdiction and would be unfair” and may prevent senior projects from being proposed in the future.

Project Surveyor Patti Brooks, who attended the meeting by phone, took issue with the town’s zoning changes.

“I do not agree with the legislative findings of the Town Board saying that the amendments to the zoning code are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and the existing zoning,” she said.

Brooks noted that the Continuing Care Retirement Community [which the PRRD would replace] is listed as a Special Use Permit in the Town of Lloyd which makes it an allowed use with special conditions that are only reviewed by the Planning Board. The PRRD would instead be a zoning district, which would require review by both the Town Board and the Planning Board. She said this engendered much discussion within the Comprehensive Committee itself, “on how that approval process would run, especially if the two boards do not agree with one another on how that should occur.”

Brooks said it is not clear if a PRRD district is even required in Lloyd because the current Planned Unit Development district would allow all of the uses that people would like to see in this type of community.

The Town will soon be receiving recommendations from the UCPB about the new proposed amendments to the Lloyd town code.

There is a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. on the proposed Assisted Living facility. Instructions on how to attend this meeting virtually and voice your opinion can be found on the Town of Lloyd website. After the Public Hearing the Town Board may vote on whether or not to grant this developer a waiver from the building moratorium, which would move the Assisted Living facility to the Planning Board stage for their review.