EXETER — Riverwoods is moving forward with revised plans to build a “new state-of-the-art” wellness centre along Jolly Land and Kingston Drive.
The continuing care retirement community appeared before the town’s planning commission on Thursday, June 27, for preliminary conceptual discussions on the proposed three-story building.
The proposed 158,000-square-foot building would replace three existing buildings at The Woods, The Ridge and The Boulder campuses. They say the new “concentrated” care facility would drive efficiencies due to staffing issues.
The new plan can be built without zoning relief.
In May, two Riverwoods variance requests were denied by the Zoning Board: one that would have allowed the project to exceed the 35-foot height limit for a gable roof design, and another that would have allowed 11 of 116 parking spaces within the building’s 100-foot landscape buffer.
The commission rejected both requests, saying the “enormous structures” would change the essential character of the residential neighborhood, and suggested a scaled-down project would be better suited to the area.
Riverwoods’ new plan calls for 113 parking spaces — 49 at the front of the building and 64 underground — with no parking spaces within the 100-foot buffer strip and calls for a flat roof with dormers to stay within the 35-foot height limit.
Robbie Woodburn of Woodburn & Company Landscape Architecture said the revised building and parking plans will include surrounding trees to “soften” the impact on the neighborhood.
Eric Herman of AG Architecture said the building would have 126 rooms divided into assisted living, memory support and skilled nursing, and would have two central courtyards that would provide “safe access to the outdoors” and “sunny areas to the units.”
Eric Saari of Altus Engineering said once the new building is complete, Riverwoods’ long-term plans also include converting three existing wellness centers into independent living facilities.
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The plans submitted to the Planning Commission were only a preliminary conceptual consultation and adjacent residents were not notified.
Still, many local residents attended and expressed “serious concerns.”
Pickpocket Road resident Karen Pryor said the project has been on an “erratic trajectory.”
“This project is at the Planning Commission stage after being rejected outright by the Zoning Board of Adjustment…The reason this proposal is moving forward is because Riverwoods spends more money on attorneys than their neighbors,” she said. “We are neighbors and our town government should not function like this.”
Pick Pocket Road resident Laura Davis said she is “astonished” by the size of the building Riverwoods is planning to build in her neighborhood.
“Just to give you some perspective on scale: The YMCA at 56 Linden Street is 30,935 square feet. This proposal would be between 155,000 and 207,000 square feet. So that would be six YMCAs in a low-density residential neighborhood,” she said. “… The old high school at 30 Linden Street is 205,936 square feet, so this proposed building would be the same size as the old high school.”
Davis, a real estate and appraisal professional, also serves on the Zoning Board.
“This makes the property the largest building between the railroad tracks and (Highway) 125,” she said.
Fred Burt, who has spoken out against the project at the zoning board level, also voiced his opposition to the “mega” project.
“This is a neighborhood and that thing is huge,” he said. “It’s too big. It doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood. I hope Riverwoods doesn’t end up becoming the Village of Exeter, like some big Florida retirement community.”
He also said noise from the building, including generators and trucks transporting daily loads, as well as increased traffic, would disrupt the “peace and quiet” of the neighborhood.
“When they put a dumpster near Riverwoods at 8 in the morning, we hear it,” he said, “I would ask the planning board to make sure there’s a strong, strong buffer zone.”
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Paul Roberge, who lives on Pickpocket Street, also questioned Riverwoods’ reliability, saying the company had previously planted trees as a buffer around existing buildings but then “quickly ignored” and abandoned them. He said he could see dead trees on the Riverwoods site from his home.
“If you go and stand on Pickpocket Road right now, you can see on your right hand side a terrible mess of invasive plants that have killed off most of the trees that were planted,” he said. “So even if they promise to put in beautiful landscaping to hide this monstrous building, I have no confidence they’re going to maintain that cover. They’re going to ignore it.”
Pryor agreed with Roberge, saying Riverwoods “promised on multiple occasions that they would be good neighbors, but that has not happened.”
Ruth Hooten, a Kingston Road resident who lives next to the proposed site, said she was most concerned about the impact on her property as the building would be built on a slope.
“Their land is on top of my land and it slopes down towards my pond,” she explained, “…it’s going to drain into my pond and cause more water to run off.”
Hooten also raised concerns about lighting, due to the difference in slope.
“The light will shine into my house,” she said, “and it doesn’t matter how many trees and bushes you plant. I live surrounded by riverwoods, so I’ll see the light all year round.”
The Planning Commission made no decision as this was only a preliminary conceptual discussion.
Riverwoods said it plans to return to design review with the commission before submitting a formal application for the project.