Following months of delays and nearly two hours of debate last Tuesday night, the Putnam County Board of Commissioners approved a 63-acre mixed-use senior living development along Harmony Road, clearing the way for an assisted living and memory care facility surrounded by age-restricted cottages.
The Feb. 17 meeting marked the culmination of a zoning request first tabled in December. Ross Mundy, representing the property owners, presented plans to rezone three parcels totaling approximately 63 acres on the west side of Harmony Road approaching Scott Road, from agricultural use to a residential planned unit development (RPUD), along with a nearly six-acre tract rezoned commercial for a 100,000-square-foot assisted living and memory care facility.
“We feel there’s a huge need for it,” Mundy told the commission, describing the project as similar to developments in Athens that combine assisted living facilities with independent cottages offering “laundry service, food service, and medical attention.”
The proposal includes up to 124 cottages and the memory care building. However, the path to approval was far from straightforward.
District 3 Commissioner Dr. Steve Hersey raised concerns early in the hearing about the legality of rezoning a 1.01-acre parcel that did not independently meet the county’s 15-acre minimum for RPUD designation.
“If it’s an ordinance, it’s an ordinance,” Hersey insisted. “We either have ordinances or we don’t have ordinances. I think words have meaning.”
County Attorney Adam Nelson countered that the rezoning could be conditioned on combining the parcels within 120 days to meet minimum acreage requirements. He noted that similar conditional rezonings had been applied previously in Putnam County.
Though Hersey remained skeptical, the board ultimately included a condition requiring the 1.01-acre parcel to be combined with a 26.32acre tract within 120 days of approval.
Traffic and public safety concerns also dominated the discussion. Hersey questioned the plan’s inclusion of two entrances requiring left turns from Harmony Road within a 1,100-foot stretch, citing congestion in the area near Harmony Road, Scott Road, and Highway 44.
Upon request, Putnam County Fire Chief Thomas McClain addressed access requirements under the state’s adopted International Fire Code. Buildings exceeding 62,000 square feet typically require two separate access points for fire apparatus, he said, though exceptions may apply depending on how many sprinklers are installed.
“The fire code’s not going to dictate that they have two entrances from Harmony Road,” McClain said, explaining that internal access roads could potentially satisfy access requirements. He added, however, that final decisions would only occur during the Technical Review Committee (TRC) process.
Developer representative Mundy expressed concern about limiting access. Though he favored the potential cost savings of creating only one access point off the road, Mundy called it “a real safety concern” not to have two entrances.
An amendment to restrict the project to a single left-turn entrance failed on a 2-2 vote, with Chairman Bill Sharp casting the deciding “nay” vote.
Public comment largely favored approval. County resident Bill Vargo urged commissioners to move forward, saying the family selling the property deserved a quick resolution.
“These people have been waiting for six months for you guys to make up your minds,” Vargo said. “Give them 120 days to get their paperwork done … and let these people move on.”
His wife, Barb Vargo, echoed the sentiment, warning that delays could discourage investment.
“This is the reason we lose business in this county,” she said. “Let’s get it done.”
In the end, commissioners unanimously approved the combined rezoning requests for the residential portions; however, with 12 conditions attached, relating to lighting, landscape buffers, dumpster placement, security cameras, signage height limits, commercial vehicle restrictions, density caps of four units per acre, and a requirement that the development substantially conform to the submitted conceptual plan.
The board also imposed a one-year deadline to secure a preliminary plat, after which the property could revert to agricultural zoning if no progress is made.
A key addition requires the cottage community to operate only as housing for residents 55 and older in compliance with the federal Fair Housing Act. The development also must establish a homeowners association and maintain documentation verifying age-restricted occupancy.
Commissioners then separately approved the 5.99-acre commercial rezoning for the assisted living facility under similar conditions, excluding the age-restriction provision.
District 1 Commissioner Tom McElhenney, who made the motion to approve, acknowledged the delay but defended the additional safeguards.
“I hate that it took 60 days, but it is what it is, and now here we are,” he said. “I’m ready to move forward with this and get this thing done.”