Model retirement community planned

By Rose Hooper

Developer Jim Dukes presented the plan to elected officials in Dillsboro Monday and to county commissioners at their June 6 meeting.

The first phase of the project, Dillsboro Crossing, is expected to be built off U.S. 23/441 on 13 acres adjoining the Jarrett Hills subdivision in Dillsboro. The development will feature all levels of living, from independent to assisted to dependent care.

A second phase of the project, to be called Mountain Oaks, will be built on 9 acres on Walter Ashe Road in Sylva's Cope Creek community. Shuttle service is planned between the two sites, said Dukes, one of the directing partners of Dominium, the development corporation that has partnered with Heritage Hills, Mountain Projects and the Jackson County Department on Aging on the project.

At last Thursday commissioner's meeting, the Heritage Hills team asked for financial assistance from the county in the amount of $105,000. The funds would be used to lease about 9,600 square feet at the Dillsboro site to put under one roof the county's Department on Aging, the Golden Age Senior Center and the senior meal program.

"We could consolidate all of our Department on Aging personnel under one roof," said Bryson. Currently these services are scattered at the Golden Age Center, the DOA office, East Sylva Shopping Center and the Community Service Center.

The center would also provide 8,100 square feet of meeting space for seniors, as well as other groups, Bryson said.

The group also asked the county to consider hiring a full-time case manager to assist seniors with everything from insurance to legal questions.

"The seniors in our county have told us their needs, and we just completed a survey that backs up those needs," said Helen Bryson, Department on Aging director. "Their foremost need that we hear over and over is assisted living.

"We don't offer that now to our seniors; they have to leave the county to receive those services," she continued. "Our goal is to keep our seniors here at home in their own county."

"In total, we are offering the county 17,000 square feet of rental space to provide Department on Aging services in one location," said Dukes. "We think it will be a cost savings to the county because they won't have to front the money for building."

Commissioners responded by pointing out that the county currently spends less than $10,000 a year on space for senior needs, and an increase of what is being requested - more than $90,000 - has not been included in the county budget. Commissioners also said their goal for the future is to hold fewer leases.

Commissioners are expected to continue their discussion of the Heritage Hills proposal later this month.

Dukes made a similar presentation Monday to Dillsboro Town Board members, who in contrast responded enthusiastically to the proposal.

"I think it is an exciting way for Dillsboro to grow," said Mayor Jean Hartbarger.

Dukes told the Dillsboro board he would be interested in voluntarily annexing into town limits. Such a move would make the property eligible for Powell Bill funds to help pay for street lights and road maintenance, he said.

In return annexation would offer the town an increased tax base and a larger share of the state's local option sales tax reimbursement, which is based on population.

"In this multi-level community, a senior citizen in good health could move into an apartment or townhouse. Perhaps they have a home they just don't want to have to keep up any more," Dukes said. "They could live in one section until they needed more services. Then, as they mature and become more dependent, they could move to the next level of care units."

As opposed to similar communities in Buncombe and Henderson county, there will be no entry fee for seniors, and units will be affordable, Dukes said.

"By making the housing affordable, it should prevent many seniors from applying for Medicaid," he said. "This helps the county, too, because the county has to match Medicaid payments."

Senior center amenities in Dillsboro will include housekeeping, garbage collection, health professionals on staff, 24-hour staffing and security, two meals per day, maintenance, grounds keeping, activities room and greenway walking spaces. A convenience store is also planned at the site.

At the Cope Creek property, which will be developed with Mountain Projects, 24 HUD units are planned for senior citizens, in addition to an industrial-size kitchen for preparing meals, including home-delivered meals, and a Head Start facility.

"This will serve as an intergenerational community," said Jenny James, a development researcher with Heritage Hills who conducted the recent needs survey. Meanwhile, construction is expected to begin this summer on the first Heritage Center buildings in Dillsboro. Charles Hager would be the general contractor, Dukes said.

Monthly rent for a one-bedroom, one-bath unit will begin at $1,690. Comparable units in Hendersonville rent for $3,395 per month, Dukes said, in addition to an up-front admission fee of several thousand dollars.

In addition to rental units, townhouses, a garden villa, condominiums and duplexes will be available for purchase.

News Editor Lisa Majors-Duff contributed to this report.

Back to Archive: 06/13/02.