P&Z Approves Ashlar Expansion

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have approved Ashlar of Newtown’s proposal to expand its Lockwood Lodge assisted living complex for the elderly from 48 to 56 apartments.

P&Z members on May 18 granted Ashlar permission to modify existing unfinished space within its expansion project, which was approved by P&Z in September 1997. The complex is located on a 43-acre site off Toddy Hill Road, just north of Marlin Road.

When Ashlar constructed Lockwood Lodge adjacent to its nursing home after the P&Z’s 1997 construction approval, Ashlar left unfinished space on the second floor of a building that connects the Ashlar nursing home to the Lockwood Lodge assisted living complex, with the intention of eventually finishing that space for an expansion of Lockwood Lodge.

The eight-apartment expansion of Lockwood Lodge will be achieved by creating five apartments in the second floor of the connecting building, plus creating one new apartment one each of the three floors of Lockwood Lodge in areas where dining rooms are now located. A single dining area, with its own kitchen, will be created in the connecting building to replace the three small dining areas which will be converted into apartments.

Ashlar also received P&Z approval to build a greenhouse at the rear of its 156-bed nursing home.

In a letter to P&Z, attorney Robert Hall, representing Ashlar, stated he does not believe that adding eight assisted living apartments to Lockwood Lodge will have any effect on nearby property values.

In a traffic report on the implications of adding eight units, Irving Chann, a traffic engineer for Ashlar, wrote the project would have minimal effect on traffic in the area. “Negligible traffic impact would be associated with the proposed eight additional assisted living units,” he wrote.

Having Lockwood Lodge at Ashlar is intended to limit overall health care costs and broaden the range of services the facility offers.

Such  assisted-living facilities provide more care than is available at an “independent living” facilities, but not as much care as is provided at a “skilled nursing care” facility such as Ashlar’s nursing home.

Residents in assisted-living settings need some help with activities such as eating, bathing, toileting, and dressing. The compact apartments in such a facility provide a home-like setting.

The  facilities are intended to be cost-effective and provide a safe and secure place for the elderly to live. Residents of assisted-living facilities are generally widows or widowers. A typical resident is an 81- or 82-year-old woman.