A proposed assisted living home in Tabb cleared a major hurdle last week after the York County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a permit authorizing the project.
The nearly 90,000 square foot home would have a maximum of 102 units for residents and is proposed to be built at the corner of Victory Boulevard and Hampton Highway. There is not much in the way of assisted living options in York County. The former George Washington Inn on Merrimac Trail won approval in 2012 to be converted to senior housing with a wing devoted to assisted living, but that building is now for sale. A small assisted living home is in operation at Skimino Landing Estates in Upper York County.
The supervisors expressed satisfaction with an assisted living home, citing the county’s need for such a home. Their approval came after three residents of neighborhoods abutting the property where the home is to be built expressed their disapproval. One person expressed concern about a service road for the home adjacent to the residential neighborhood where “a person could stash a car for faster exit from the neighborhood for theft or other nefarious activities.”
The other two speakers were opposed due to the loss of the buffer of vegetation that currently exists on the property between their homes and Victory Boulevard. Supervisor Thomas Shepperd, a member of the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, said the trees could be removed even if the supervisors did not approve the home. HRTPO is considering widening Victory Boulevard, something he said could happen within the next 10 to 15 years.
Supervisor Don Wiggins said the property owner has been paying taxes on the land and the senior home is “a better angle than anything we could have put forth.” Because the land is zoned for business, a shopping center, a sit-down restaurant, an office park, a bank and several other commercial uses could be constructed on the land by right.
“We don’t have any [assisted living homes] in York County and we have some lousy ones down in Hampton and Newport News,” Supervisor Walt Zaremba said. “I think this would be a real positive for the citizens of this county who need this kind of assistance.”
Supervisor Sheila Noll said the project is beneficial for the community.
“There are a lot of pluses for this development, and I can understand the neighbors see them as minuses, but I think once it’s all said and done, I think you’ll all learn to live together and I think you’ll be happy to have it there,” Noll said. “And who knows, someday one of us may need to go into this assisted living. We’re all living a lot longer and it’s something we need in our neighborhood, and families like to keep families together.”
To help mitigate the concerns of neighbors, the supervisors attached a few conditions to the permit. An 8-foot fence must be constructed between the assisted living home and the adjacent neighborhoods and deliveries are allowed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Susan Eckert, the president of Harmony Senior Services, said the home receives food deliveries and garbage pickup twice a week, while the rest of the services are done in-house. She said her company operates six communities in Virginia, where the average age is 87 years old and 80 percent of the residents are female.
The assisted living home is expected to generate minimal traffic. Few, if any, of the residents own vehicles, while the maximum number of employees on hand at any time is about 45. The peak traffic hours for the home are 6 to 7 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m.
The location in Tabb represents another hurdle for the project: The property’s frontage along Hampton Highway does not meet standards set by the Virginia Department of Transportation, so the entrance likely cannot be placed there.
The developer, Roanoke-based Smith/Packett, has identified the frontage along Victory Boulevard for the home’s entrance. Victory Boulevard is a limited-access highway, meaning any access to property along that road must first be cleared with the state’s Commonwealth Transportation Board.
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