Planning commissioners recommend approval of special-exception for Pine Grove Neighborhood C senior living community

The La Plata Planning Commission on May 21 voted unanimously to recommend approval of a special-exception (SE 120-24) that would allow a senior living community in Pine Grove Neighborhood C. The recommendation will be forwarded to the Town of La Plata Board of Appeals for final consideration.

Janine Harrington, director of planning, said the site for Neighborhood C is about 166.826 acres, zoned TDX under the comprehensive plan’s mixed-use designation, and that the developer submitted the special-exception request under Town Code section 191-52(h)(28). “The proposed senior living community is subject to special provisions as listed in 191-52(h)(28),” she said, and described the required findings the Board of Appeals must consider.

Staff reported the proposal would provide a total of 386 dwelling units across the development: 284 single-family detached units and 102–104 attached units (the packet lists 104 attached dwellings). Harrington reported the proposed density of about 8.795 dwelling units per acre, which is below the 15-dwelling-units-per-acre maximum allowed for senior living in the TDX zone. She said the plan exceeds buffer-yards and dimensional standards and that the site “greatly exceeds” the minimum four acres required for a senior living community and meets the 100-foot frontage requirement.

Developer representatives said the senior-living designation responds to market demand. Brian Georgia of D.R. Horton told the commission the company “did some market studies, and we think that there is a tranche out there in the market that wishes to live in a community that’s age restricted.” He also described the attached product as villa-style units—about 28 feet wide, two stories, generally configured with a downstairs master bedroom.

Harrington and the applicants said a senior-living designation would remove the need for school-seat purchases for those units because the development would include a declaration of covenants and restrictions enforcing age-targeting (55+). Harrington told the commission the developer has submitted a memo addressing sanitation, noise and traffic and that the Board of Appeals may impose additional conditions related to emergency-vehicle access and similar public-safety matters.

Commissioners asked about traffic-study implications and whether a future traffic study would reflect lower trip generation for senior housing; the applicant said traffic updates are tied to master-development triggers (for example, updated studies at 750 and 1,500 total units). The Planning Commission’s recommendation motion cited Town Code section 190-152 and was approved unanimously by roll-call vote. The recommendation will be one piece of the record the Board of Appeals will use when making a final decision.