Developer Owen Mark Sanderson’s Assisted Living proposal came before the Lloyd Planning Board last week for the first time after being granted a waiver from a building moratorium in July by the Town Board.

Previous reporting by the Southern Ulster Times revealed that the Town Board was advised that if they were to vote against granting the waiver to move the project forward, the developer would sue the town. Additionally, the board’s land use attorney told the board they did not have insurance against lawsuits of this nature when it appears the town does have this type of coverage.

For the past few months Sanderson’s attorney, John Furst, has repeatedly stated that his client has downsized his project and was only looking for the Planning Board to conduct a site plan review of the Assisted Living building.

The facility will be 120,000 sq/ft, consisting of 135 beds in individual rooms. It will also provide enhanced assisted living for those with significant functional limitations as well as a special needs section that will provide memory care services for patients with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. The building is to be set back 132 feet from Route 9W southbound and there will be a 50 foot setback from the property line to the north. In addition, an 85 foot setback with thick vegetation will act as a buffer for the residential homes on Mayer Drive, which border the proposed project.

The project will also have ancillary facilities: an attached 5,000 sq/ft single story primary care center with a separate entrance for the public and a 7,000 sq/ft one story aquatic therapy center that will be located behind the main building.

Previously, Furst has stated that his client intends to build the entire project that he brought forth more than a year ago, should zoning allow for it. To that end, he showed the Planning Board color slides of the full build out across his 53 acre parcel that contains 174 single, independent living senior cottages of 1,200 to 1,400 sq/ft; a clubhouse, a public garden and a library, to name of few of the additions. He said he showed the full build out as part of the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

The project will be back before the Planning Board at 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 27 to present a traffic report.