McDonough council approves Manor Lake assisted‑living campus despite sewer capacity concerns

The City Council of McDonough voted Jan. 20 to approve a rezoning request for Manor Lake — a planned senior living campus at Lake Dow Road and Highway 81 — adopting the PUD and associated zoning ordinance after staff and consultants described conditions and capacity limits.

Community development staff recommended approval of case 250809 with conditions covering architecture, landscaping, stormwater controls and connectivity. The project calls for a campus with 104 assisted‑living and memory‑care units plus 24 independent living cottages, about 5 acres of permanent open space and a lodge‑style design palette. Interim community development director Sylvia Smith presented the staff recommendation and the plan’s key elements and conditions.

Council members and several residents pressed staff and technical witnesses on wastewater capacity. Jeremy Newton, introduced as the sewer capacity expert, said that with approved and proposed developments built out the system would approach the city’s permitted limits. “Once everything that’s already been approved from mayor and council is built out, it would put us at 99%,” he told the council, and he referenced an average daily flow figure and the city’s 2,000,000‑gallon‑per‑day permit while noting a pending expansion approval to 3 MGD from state regulators.

Andy Butts of public works said the city can open an existing force main and make incremental capacity available at pump stations. He added that the headworks and treatment plant are sized to handle the project as modeled by the engineer of record, but that plant expansion is on the city’s near‑term agenda.

Developers and their engineers presented a conceptual grading and stormwater approach intended to capture on‑site runoff and treat it via detention and extended‑detention practices. HRC Engineers explained that the proposed post‑development stormwater management would route most flows to an on‑site pond and would discharge at rates no greater than existing flows at required outlets.

Councilmembers expressed support for the project’s senior‑housing goals but emphasized the need for final engineering, permitting and coordination with public works before land‑disturbance permits are issued. The motion to approve the rezoning and adopt the ordinance carried by the council with a recorded vote of 6 in favor and 1 opposed.

The council’s approval includes the conditions presented by staff and the requirement that developers satisfy all technical reviews — including final stormwater, traffic and sewer tie‑in plans — before construction permits are issued.