A New Jersey-based company of senior assisted living communities received Montgomery County Planning Board approval Thursday for a 120-suite, 140-bed facility on the site of the Potomac Tennis & Fitness Club off Falls Road.
The Planning Board approved a conditional use and a preliminary forest conservation plan that clears the way for Brandywine Senior Living to put the three-story, 50-foot-tall building on Potomac Tennis Lane.
Brandywine, which has 28 properties in five states, hopes to start construction on the project next year. It has an agreement in place to buy the land of the Potomac Tennis & Fitness Club once the project is approved, meaning the tennis club will close. On Nov. 6, the project will be the subject of a public hearing before the county’s Hearing Examiner concerning the conditional use of the property, zoned residential, as a senior living facility.
“We look forward to becoming a contributing and involved member of this wonderful community,” Brandywine President and CEO Brenda Bacon said after the Planning Board’s decision Thursday.
Some in the community have expressed concerns about large trucks coming into and out of the property, traffic generated from building employees and the building itself.
The Brickyard Coalition sent the Planning Board a letter opposing the project, claiming “Falls Road between River Road and Glen Road is fast becoming Potomac’s version of a strip mall.”
“Anyone traveling Falls Road knows that traffic is very congested during morning and evening rush hours, with bumper to bumper traffic and long wait times to cross Falls-River [roads],” the letter read.
But a traffic study performed by consultants for Brandywine and reviewed by Planning Department staff found that any extra traffic generated by the facility wouldn’t come close to meeting failing congestion standards at nearby intersections.
The Brickyard Coalition, which describes itself as a standalone neighborhood civic organization, claimed the project shouldn’t be considered residential to match the property’s residential zoning because it will require employees.
In response, Brandywine said it agreed to lower the height of the building, which will be three floors and have a maximum of 40 employees working at any time.
The company said it will also limit the hours that delivery or trash trucks can enter the site, which is surrounded on two sides by the Falls Road Golf Course, and is just north of a rehabilitation facility and east of a few detached homes on Lockland Road.
Brandywine also said it will provide shuttle bus rides for employees from local transit stations in an effort to keep vehicles off Falls Road.
The facility will have a 55-space surface parking lot and an 18-space parking garage underneath. The project also includes an indoor fitness and pool facility, beauty salon, spa, theater, pub, dining room and other indoor gathering spaces.
