Making use of ex-Summit View nursing home discussed by FMPC
The former Summit View nursing home at 12823 Kingston Pike near Dixie Lee Junction could get a new life as an independent senior living facility if approved by the Town.
Amy Sherrill, principal architect with Benefit Richeters, and Lynne Overton, currently Fairfield Inn and Suites general manager — but would be executive director for the new independent living facility — will be asking Farragut Municipal Planning Commission, and subsequently Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen, to approve a rezoning of the 5 acres from General Commercial (C-1) to Community Service (S-1). Sherrill and Overton presented their plans at a Town Staff/Developer meeting Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“This will be a workshop discussion with the Planning Commission,” when it meets Thursday, Nov. 21, Community Development director Mark Shipley said.
“The applicants want to re-purpose that (building on property, located across Kingston Pike from South Hobbs Road) and use it for an independent living and care facility,” he added. “So, they’re requesting to rezone it to S-1, Community Service.
“It will be three meals a day provided, with laundry facilities,” Overton said. “It will be strictly independent. There will be no nursing care, no CNA activities provided, nothing required to be licensed by the state.”
“The big picture for the site is we have no intention of changing any form or how much space is taken up on the property,” Sherrill said. “The parking is sufficient for what we want to do.
“In terms of the building modification, there has been some damage, previously, to the structure, so obviously we’re going to repair that,” she added, also noting the repair includes the sprinkler system.
They also will be expanding the bathrooms to provide private showers.
“We feel it’s a nice change to be able to use the building as it is, but provide a different option here in the community,” Sherrill said.
Overton said the staff would consist of 20 at the max, and rent for a unit is expected to start at $3,500 a month.
“A nursing home is a permitted use in General Commercial,” Shipley said. Meanwhile, “independent living and care is S-1. You have to have at least 3 acres. The Future Land Use Map actually has it consistent to what they are wanting to zone it to: Civic Institutional.”
He defined independent living as a residential use with semi-family detached or attached dwelling units “to house older persons who are frail but not infirmed that require a lower level of assistance than residents in assisted care living facilities.”
“Independent living residents do not require assistance or acute nursing home care,” Shipley added.
“It may be licensed by the state but does not have to be.”
Plans for the proposed independent facility include rooms with bedrooms and a bath, he said, adding the dining facility would be a common space.
“You wouldn’t have the ability to eat in your unit,” Shipley said.
However, Overton said there also would be common laundry facilities on site.
