Fairview Proposes Expansion In Groton

The owner of the Fairview Odd Fellows Home of Connecticut has filed an application to build 197 independent living apartments, 69 cottages and 20 assisted living units for people with memory loss.

The development would be built on the 70-acre site along the edge of Military Highway overlooking the Thames River. The company filed the special use permit application for the development, to be called Fairview Estates, on Nov. 1.

Michael Dunay, who lives at 19 Boardsen Road up the hill, said the proposed housing would block his and his neighbors' views of the water. He wants the housing built elsewhere on the property.

"Once they put that first house in, we're done," he said. "They're never going to take it down. We're just asking for some consideration. We're not asking them to build. Just not to build right there."

Fairview Chief Executive Officer Jim Malloy said the first 23 units would be single-story, ranch-style houses, not multiple stories like the current facility. He said the company plans a meeting with neighbors so they can look at the plans, talk to the architect and learn more about them.

He added that plans are preliminary and the project would be built over ten years.

The campus now has a 120-bed nursing home facility, a 20-unit independent living community, a one-story building with four units and a cemetery.

“. . .There is a high demand to provide these services to more seniors than the current facility would allow,” the application said.

The new community would include 69 cottages built in three neighborhoods, with some clustered around village greens and others with river views. Cottages would have one or two units each and would share common amenities, then be connected to the larger campus by walking trails. Transportation would be provided.

The 197-unit apartment building would include one, two and three-bedroom apartments with porches or patios. The building for residents with memory loss would have 20-assisted living units, wrapped around a courtyard so people could walk outside in an enclosed area.

The new development would also include a 3,500 square foot clubhouse with a fitness room, yoga room, showers, kitchen, multi-purpose room, outdoor seasonal pool and outdoor fire pit. Other amenities would include a plaza with an overlook view and gazebo.

Dunay said he worries the project will increase traffic on the narrow, nearby streets and that the housing won't sell, but will ultimately have to be turned into low-income units.

"Nobody's going to retire in Connecticut," he said. "Everyone's going the other way."

The housing expansion would cover 11 percent of the Fairview site, with the rest to remain as open space, the application said. The main entry for the new housing would be from Military Highway.