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Topic Description:
The applicant seeks to amend a previously approved Special
Exception to allow for additional building square footage to
accommodate the full range of services to be provided for
residents of the previously approved 72-bed (with no more
than 60 units total) Assisted Living Facility located at
Suffield Meadows.
Project
Information:
On June 14,
2007, the Board of Supervisors approved a Special Exception
amendment to allow for additional beds at the Assisted
Living Facility (ALF). Fauquier Health Systems, Inc., which
is part of Fauquier Hospital, owns and will operate the
facility.
Since the
original Special Exception approval in 2002, this use
category in the RA (Rural Agricultural) Zoning District has
been removed from the Zoning Ordinance. Thus, Suffield
Meadows is classified as a legal non-conforming use.
Although the “Continuing Care Facility” is no longer allowed
in the RA district it is still possible to allow the
requested increase in the use under the provisions of Zoning
Ordinance Section 5-004(2). This referenced section allows
the Board of Supervisors to “specifically waive or modify
requirements for obtaining additional permits for the
enlarging, extending, increasing in intensity or relocation
of previously approved Special Exception uses in unusual
cases when the change is not significant.”
The applicant has provided building layouts and elevations
for the proposed assisted living facility. The previously
approved Special Exception included a building up to 54,200
square feet with a first floor footprint of 31,750 square
feet. The new proposal is for a total building size of
74,396 square feet with a first floor footprint of 41,421
square feet. The total number of beds (72) has not
changed. According to the applicant, the increase in
building size affords a better quality of life for the
residents of the ALF.
The layout is a series of little neighborhoods that each
have a common area for residents that contains a country
kitchen and living room. There are also a variety of
amenities offered such as barber/beauty shop, store, mail
room, movie room, card room, library, large living room, a
bistro, activities room, wellness/PT, clinic/exam room,
classroom and dining hall. The new design also has wider
hallways to allow better access for wheelchairs or
scooters. The design also includes a memory unit.
Typically an
assisted living facility will provide assistance, to its
residents, with daily services such as grooming, personal
hygiene, eating, housekeeping, nutrition and medications.
Physical therapy, cultural programs and social activities
are also included for residents. Additionally residents of
the Suffield Meadows development may use the services
provided at the ALF. For example, if a resident is
recuperating from a knee surgery and requires physical
therapy, they may schedule it at the ALF. These services
would not be open to all Fauquier County residents and that
theme is consistent with the original intent of the
community being one where residents could “age in place”
and, if needed, go from their homes in the age-restricted
condominium community to the ALF and not have to leave their
neighborhood.
Staff has
also included an addition to the previously approved Special
Exception Condition 31; the addition is in italics:
Prior to and for the duration of construction, the applicant
shall provide safety fencing twenty (20) feet beyond the
perimeter of the drainfields and reserve areas to ensure no
excavation and construction activities would render the
sites void. The location of such fencing shall be submitted
with the Site Plan/Construction Plan. The twenty (20)
foot buffer area may be reduced if approved by the Virginia
Department of Health.
This text
will allow for some flexibility with reducing the fencing
requirement (distance from the drainfield reserve area),
during construction, if approved by the Virginia Department
of Health. The site is very constrained and final
engineering and design may result in a need for this
reduction.
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Staff
Analysis:
The building
design has incorporated aesthetics (blending in with the
Suffield Meadow residential development) and addressed the
size and screening of the proposed assisted living facility
and minimized impact as viewed from Route 29. The maximum
building height in the district is 35 feet; the building
will meet this standard.
Although the
“Continuing Care Facility” is no longer allowed in the
RA/Rural Agricultural District, Zoning Ordinance Section
5-004(2) allows the Board of Supervisors to “specifically
waive or modify requirements for obtaining additional
permits for the enlarging, extending, increasing in
intensity or relocation of previously approved Special
Exception uses in unusual cases when the change is not
significant.” In staff’s view, this standard has been
achieved.
Staff has
also refined a Special Exception condition related to the
fencing of drainfields during construction to allow the
Virginia Department of Health to provide a variance, if
needed.
Summary and Recommendations:
Staff
recommends that the Board of Supervisors consider approval
for this request. The previously approved Special Exception
included a building up to 54,200 square feet with a first
floor footprint of 31,750 square feet. The new proposal is
for a total building size of 74,396 square feet with a first
floor footprint of 41,421 square feet. The number of beds
(72) has not changed. This does not represent a significant
change to the originally approved Special Exception or the
previously approved Special Exception Amendment.
Planning Commission Action:
On April 24, 2008, the Fauquier County Planning Commission
unanimously approved the Special Exception subject to a
series of Special Exception conditions.
Requested Action of the Board of Supervisors:
Conduct a public hearing. If the Board of Supervisors
wishes to act, Conditions of Approval, as recommended by the
Planning Commission, are
provided in the resolution.
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