The Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions by a 5-2 vote on September 5, 2018 adding a condition that the applicant obtain a secondary gated emergency access point prior to site plan approval.

Staff recommends denial based on staff’s conclusion that the application does not meet all eight of the Standards of Review for Special Use Permits.  

The applicant’s request is for special use permit approval to develop a 125-bed assisted living facility on a 10 acre Residential 2 (R-2) zoned parcel. The unaddressed property is located at the end of River Meadows Way on the east side of Tidewater Trial.  The property is located in the Primary Development Boundary and within the Airport Protection Overlay District.  The property is within an area identified for Mixed Use development on the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan.

The staff report to the Board of Supervisors on October 9, 2018 recommended denial citing 3 of the Special Use Standards of Review.  Staff’s concern was and remains centered around the location of the use, access to the site, and the impact of increased emergency vehicle traffic on residential neighborhoods.  Assisted Living Facilities require frequent emergency response services, whether from the County or private providers.  Those emergency response trips were originally routed 1.2 miles round-trip through a residential neighborhood called River Meadows.

On October 9, 2018 the Board of Supervisors closed the public hearing and continued the subject case to the next scheduled meeting (October 23, 2018) in order to allow the applicant to hold an additional meeting with the community to resolve concerns.  Concerns heard from the public were largely related to access, transportation, traffic, and EMS service impacts of the facility on the neighbors within the River Meadows neighborhood.  A meeting was held with residents of River Meadows on October 17, 2018 to open dialog. 

On October 23, 2018, the applicant requested that this case be continued until January 8, 2019 in order to further the dialog. That request was granted by the Board of Supervisors and another meeting was held by the applicant with the River Meadows community on October 24, 2018.  During the meeting the applicant discussed a potential revision to the plan which would consist of a townhouse project, instead of an assisted living facility.  

The applicant has since provided staff an updated General Development Plan (GDP) and narrative (both updated within this packet) which continue the assisted living facility application, but which now routes emergency vehicles, deliveries, employees, and guest trips through the neighboring mobile home park of River Heights instead of River Meadows.  Staff notes that the GDP identifies the existing entry point connecting to River Meadows with a new label identifying it as emergency only. 

The applicant's new access route entails a vehicle turning from Tidewater Trail to Church Street (approximately 0.3 miles further north of River Meadows Way) then entering into the River Heights Mobile Home Park via Carrie Court.  The mobile home park consists of approximately 190 mobile homes and is bisected by Evan Drive, a private road which connects Carrie Court to the applicant's proposed connection at the end of the neighborhood. The applicant has proposed to provide pavement markings for sidewalks and parallel parking spaces to both Evan Drive and Carrie Court, as well as stop signs at each intersection of these roads with their side streets.  The applicant has proposed to replace existing speed bumps along the route with textured pedestrian crosswalks, and also to trim up trees along the route for better visibility. The owner of the River Heights has provided a letter of support, although staff notes that the residents of the mobile home park may not be aware of the proposed project since they would not have received public hearing notifications as renters.

The Planning Department credits the applicant in their effort to relocate and improve the access and notes that the new access even provides the potential to reach a traffic light at the intersection of Mansfield Street and Tidewater Trail should a driver choose to wind through the Sylvania Heights neighborhood.  However, staff finds the proposal does not solve the root of the case’s deficiency, which remains the proposed location of the facility. The applicant’s proposal to reroute the majority of traffic from the route through River Meadows to the route through River Heights does not address the concerns that resulted in the recommendation, but rather shifts the negative impacts from one neighborhood to another.

The applicant originally proposed a townhouse development on this property, but converted to the assisted living facility proposal in an effort to address concerns raised by neighboring citizens during a Community Meeting.

A townhouse proposal was brought back to the community during a community meeting following the Board's continuance of this case in October however the applicant has elected to pursue the Special Use Permit for the proposed Assisted Living Facility at this time.

Staff's original recommended condition #10 has been removed due to the route through River Meadows being for emergency access only. That condition formerly read: 

"Prior to site plan approval the applicant shall conduct a traffic calming analysis of River Meadows Way at the applicant’s expense. The analysis shall be conducted in accordance with County and VDOT requirements and shall include the additional trips generated from the proposed ALF.  If traffic calming measures are warranted by the analysis, the applicant shall submit a plan to install the recommended traffic calming improvements to the County and VDOT for approval and the applicant shall install the recommended measures within 180 days from the County and VDOT’s approval of the applicant’s installation plans."

The remainder of staff's drafted conditions are recommended should the Board find the subject case meets the eight (8) Standards for Special Use Approval.