New Community Planned for Fairfield, CT

Sunrise Senior Living is working to bring Fairfield, CT seniors and their families high-quality assisted living and memory care services through a new community in the Stratfield area adjacent to Owen Fish Park. This community will provide a supportive environment in a convenient location for Fairfield families and friends who want to be near their aging loved ones.

A separate company, Senior Living Development, LLC (entitlement applicant) is in the process of obtaining approvals from the town for this project and is working with the community and Sunrise in this effort.

Major benefits to the town

• Provides Needed Senior Care - Creating a senior living residential community of 83 units to assist the elderly with their daily needs. Unlike a skilled nursing facility, which are abundant in the local area, there is a strong need for new assisted living and memory care in Fairfield. This need will continue to grow in the coming years, and Sunrise will continue to serve the community and its aging population to provide assistance to those seniors.
• Provides Desired Tax Revenues - Provide much needed tax revenue without burdening the town of its services. This project will be of the highest quality design, construction and interior finishes and represents a substantial investment by Sunrise into the community.
• Ensures Preservation of Wetlands - Sunrise will improve the quality of the wetlands and insure its future protection by dedicating 2.3 acres of the site into permanent environmental conservation easement.
• Beautifies Community - The proposed landscaping plan will provide for significant new tree buffer to the adjacent neighbors and beautify the site in a meaningful way for the Sunrise residents and the surrounding community. The building design will be consistent with typical New England and Fairfield architectural style.

Community outreach and participation

Senior Living Development and Sunrise strongly believe in transparency, neighborhood inclusion and participation in the approval process and have gone to great lengths to involve the community from the start for input on their concerns (traffic, screening, operations, parking, and design).

• Introductory meeting with neighbors and developer/team - March 30th
• Focus group meeting- April 20th
• Neighborhood meeting with developer, operator and design team - April 28th
• Focus group meeting for design input - June 6th
• Numerous one on one meetings with area residents - ongoing

During these meetings, many suggestions and requests have been made to alter the project. We are addressing items such as:

• Design changes to building:
  • Roof modifications to reduce the perceived size of the building as seen from the neighbors and the road
  • Moved building to be more sensitive to proximity of building to neighbors
  • Material selection to resemble typical New England and Fairfield architecture
• Screening and Buffering - Strategic plantings along neighbor and Stratfield Road border
• Parking- Ensure no parking on street in event of large volume of visitors at holidays

Improvement to the community

The existing, dated, synagogue, 3 story multifamily building and barn that comprises a footprint of 27,668 sq. ft. will be replaced by a 27,661 sq. ft. footprint residential, 3 story building with tasteful style and lush landscaping.

Existing Synagogue

Existing 3-Story Building

Community Rendering

Typical Sunrise Landscaping

Typical Sunrise Outdoor Space

Typical Sunrise Interior

Typical Sunrise Interior

We are committed to

• Being environmentally sound - Recently approved by Inland Wetlands, about 40% of the property will remain untouched and a conservation easement will be granted to the town in perpetuity. Water runoff from the new project will be 50% less than the existing Synagogue and water quality will be enhanced with rain gardens and advanced infrastructure water management.
• Conforming to all zoning regulations - The proposed project conforms to all zoning regulations including total square footage, density and height.
• Being sensitive to the neighborhood:
  
  • The proposed building has been moved further away from the property line bordering houses and evergreen screening designed for neighbors.
  • Due to reducing the grade of the site by four feet, the new building will be only 4 feet higher than the existing 3 story multifamily and conforms to zoning regulations.
• Being sensitive to traffic concerns - The proposed development is estimated to generate 21 and 34 new vehicle trips during the weekday morning and weekday afternoon peak hours, respectively. Parking needs are minimal with only staff and guests utilizing the spaces. Any additional parking at holidays will be handled with Sunrise shuttle to and from a satellite parking lot.
• Understanding emergency service’s needs - Developers have met with emergency service officials (police, fire and ambulance) and determined little if any services will be required with police and fire (sprinklered building and latest code construction). Ambulance history with similar facilities are 4-6 per month with most being routine (no sirens or lights).

*Site plans and renderings may be subject to change