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Planning board backs amended lease to transfer Schofield Manor operations to Smith House operator
Summary
The Stamford Planning Board voted to begin the three-board approval process for an amended lease transferring management of Schofield Manor from Charter Oak Communities to Smith House Operating LLC; the transfer is contingent on state approval and leaves the city responsible for the first $250,000 in required capital work, if any.
The Stamford Planning Board on Jan. 28 voted to forward an amended and restated lease that would transfer the operation and management of Schofield Manor from Charter Oak Communities to Smith House Operating LLC and begin the required municipal approvals.
Bridget Fox, chief of staff to the mayor, told the board the issue has been under discussion for about a decade and that an RFP issued during the Simmons administration produced a single responsive applicant: the group that operates Smith House. "We received one application, which is center management, the group that is currently operating Smith House," Fox said, summarizing the procurement history and asking the planning board to start the three-board approval process.
Board members pressed staff on why only one bidder responded and on financial and oversight implications. Fox said the winning operator’s existing lease interests in the property complicated competition and that, if the amended lease is signed, the town would not need to continue capital or operational expenditures currently directed to the site. "Once this lease is signed … the town will not have to pay or incur any expense towards this site," Fox said.
Legal staff and Fox said the transfer remains subject to state approval of the new operator; if the state denies the operator change, the lease would revert to the current arrangement. Staff also noted the lease would include a restrictive covenant in any future deed to limit uses to a defined set of public-purpose categories (skilled nursing, residential care home, senior housing, or similar uses) and that an amendment to the lease would require municipal board approval.
The board moved and voted to approve the planning-board step of the amended and restated lease; the motion passed unanimously. The measure now moves to the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives for further consideration and remains contingent on the state licensing process.
What happens next: the planning board’s favorable recommendation starts the two remaining municipal approvals; state review of the operator application will determine whether the transfer can become effective. The lease references the original Smith House Operating LLC agreement dated 05/02/2017 and includes provisions for a deed covenant if an option to purchase is exercised.
