Anne Arundel wants to take a more organized approach on determining where and what type of senior housing should be built in the county.
County Executive John R. Leopold has ordered the planning and zoning department to review information from Howard, which has developed a senior housing master plan, and incorporate it and other research into its general development plan, which outlines growth every 10 years.
The county administration has heard concerns from the County Council who said a plan is needed solely to solve the senior housing crunch.
“Based on those comments, we have asked [planning and zoning director] Larry Tom to look how we might do that through the general development plan,” said Alan Friedman, government affairs director.
The council is grappling with two bills that deal with assisted living and independent senior housing.
“Instead of dealing with one bill at a time and piecemealing it, there maybe something to be gained by looking at this process as a whole,” Friedman said Wednesday.
Those in the senior housing industry say a high demand exists as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement.
Dale McArdle, director of housing for Associated Catholic Charities, said his group?s three senior housing projects in Anne Arundel has a 400-person waiting list for 223 units.
“The hardest thing for groups like us is to find an appropriate piece of land where you can build,” McArdle said.
“You?re going to see growth in an age set that will see a difficult time finding affordable housing.”
How to zone for senior housing can be tricky business. As the council saw last week, dozens of Annapolis residents spoke out in opposition to a zoning change that would allow an assisted-living facility on Generals Highway because of fears of traffic congestion, noise pollution and degradation of the highway?s rural character.
“So much of the county is low density residential, so zoning needs to change to open up land,” said Melanie Smith, president of the Affordable Housing Commission.
“But people are going to ask, is this going to be in their neighborhood. Nobody wants it change if it?s going to affect them.”
