Planning board hears preliminary forum for proposed 89‑bed assisted living facility on Plantation Road

Carilion Assisted Living, LLC presented a preliminary forum Monday for Special Use Permit S25‑1, proposing a roughly 48,000‑square‑foot assisted‑living facility for up to 89 residents on about 10.61 acres in an R‑15 residential district off Plantation Road. The Planning Board did not vote on the special use permit at the preliminary forum; the item will go to the County Commissioners for a quasi‑judicial hearing on May 5.

The facility would be single‑story and include an internal courtyard, sidewalks, an on‑site stormwater pond and a private pump station for sewer service. Planning staff noted the site is currently vacant, zoned R‑15, and designated community mixed use in the 2016 Comprehensive Plan. Staff briefed the board that, per the WMPO, the development is estimated to generate about 18 AM and 23 PM peak‑hour trips.

The applicant’s team, led by Matt Nichols, said Carilion is an owner‑operator of assisted‑living communities and distinguishes assisted living from skilled nursing: “This is not a hospital. It's not skilled nursing,” Marcos Vidal told the board, describing assisted living as care for residents who require help with activities of daily living. Nichols said about 26% of the site would be impervious and that the project would be licensed and regulated by the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation.

Neighbor Kimberly Edmonds, who lives on Plantation Road, spoke in opposition and described longstanding localized flooding she says began before Hurricane Florence and has persisted as development in the area increased. Edmonds said development and utility work have raised and routed stormwater toward her property and left ditches and access roads in poor condition. “We have three feet of water on my property,” she said, describing submerged buildings and equipment and urging that flooding and drainage issues be resolved before additional density is added nearby.

The applicant responded that the site must meet state and county stormwater permitting requirements and that proposed stormwater infrastructure would retain required flows. Engineer Dan Fisk told the board that site stormwater would be designed to meet the county and state standards, including retention for the 25‑year storm and maintaining off‑site drainage conveyances through the parcel. The applicant also said CFPUA sewer is expected to be extended in the area; staff and the applicant gave differing estimates about timing, stating the sewer extension was expected by the end of 2025 but also that CFPUA conversations had cited 2026 for certain work. The applicant said there was active coordination with CFPUA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (for wetlands permitting).

Planning board members used the forum to give technical feedback and to suggest the applicant prepare clearer visuals of drainage divides, outfalls, and the proposed water/sewer timeline for the County Commissioners hearing. Several board members advised Edmonds that a quasi‑judicial hearing requires factual, expert evidence to be considered by commissioners and recommended she consider how to present engineering or other expert documentation if she wished to have the commissioners evaluate flooding claims.

Because this was a preliminary forum, the board made no formal recommendation. Planning staff said the application will go before the Board of Commissioners for a quasi‑judicial hearing on Monday, May 5; each side will have 15 minutes and five minutes for rebuttal. Staff also said the posted staff report materials would be available on the county’s development activity page beginning the next day.