A proposed senior housing complex in Castleton will go before Town Meeting Day voters in March. It’s the latest in a long string of legal hurdles the project has faced.
For more than five years, developers Dousevicz Inc. along with Zak Hale, CEO of Hale Resources LLC, have been trying to build a 99-unit apartment building on Sand Hill Road. The facility would include independent, assisted living and memory care units.
The 18 acres earmarked for the project were given to the town by Castleton University in 2009 to promote economic development, educational opportunities and public good.
Town Manager Michael Jones believes the proposed complex would do all of that and provide much-needed senior housing just a mile from Castleton’s village center.
But neighbors on Sand Hill Road have argued the proposed four-story project is too big and doesn’t comply with local zoning. They've fought the project all the way to the Supreme Court.
More: Proposed residential care facility in Castleton faces local hurdles, despite critical need
In October, Superior Court Judge Thomas Walsh ruled that the 23,500-square-foot project is permissible under the town's definition of a planned unit development (PUD). Much of his decision focused on the memory care portion of the development and whether or not it was a "nursing home," which would not fit the zoned use.
Judge Walsh determined the level of care proposed for the facility did not meet that of a nursing home and that the complex would meet the town's definition of "multiple-family residential use."
In November, local opponents filed an appeal to the ruling with the Vermont Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, because building the apartment complex involves selling municipal property, Vermont law requires the town of Castleton to give public notice of any property transfer.
“We probably should have done it a couple of years ago,” said Jones, the town manager. He's not sure why the property conveyance notice hadn’t been made earlier. “It’s required by state statute 24 V.S.A. 1061. Even if the Vermont Supreme Court were to find in favor of the developer, the town still has to go through this conveyance notification process,” Jones said.
Parties who oppose a property transfer have 30 days to gather signatures from at least 5% of registered local voters to require a town vote.
Castleton Town Clerk Nedra Boutwell signed a form confirming she'd received the signatures of 208 legal voters on Dec. 11. That's enough to put the proposed sale before local voters on Town Meeting Day.
