Mary Norman, one of the partners planning the facility, said Thursday that she had been notified the environmental court appeal of the town permit has been withdrawn.
“I’m ecstatic,” Norman said. “I don’t know why it was dropped, but this is very good for my project, and I think it’s very good for Manchester.”
She added, “We were stunned. I thought we were in this for the long haul.”
A group of residents led by Kate Heaton, manager of the Equinox Terrace assisted living facility in Manchester, was appealing the town Development Review Board’s vote to uphold the decision of Planning and Zoning Director Janet Hurley to grant the project a change-of-use permit.
The appellants’ attorney is David Cooper, of Facey, Goss & McPhee, of Rutland. He could not be reached for comment on the decision.
Contacted Friday, Hurley said the appellants’ decision was “for the best for all involved.”
Norman said her development group also closed Thursday on the former school property, which was purchased for $1 million, and the goal is to open the 58-unit facility by Aug. 1.
Norman also is director of an assisted living facility in Williamstown. The Manchester facility is planned by Bromley Manor Ltd. Partnership, based in Tunbridge, and Spirit Master Funding II LLC, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Principals in the Bromley Manor partnership are Norman, Philip Dunn, Darryl Hardman and Coral Hardman.
The former school campus was constructed as an assisted living facility — a fact Hurley cited as a factor in approving the change of use for the property.
In the court appeal, the appellants raised a number of procedural questions, such as whether Hurley had the authority to issue administrative permits for conditional uses and to what extent the zoning regulations delegate to the zoning administrator authority to issue an administrative permit for the project.
However, with the appeal now ended, the new owners hope to move back toward their original time frame for opening at the Manchester site. Norman said the plan had been to close on the property May 1 and get the first unit ready for use by mid-June.
While saying last month that the group would go ahead with the purchase despite the appeal, which she expected could take a year or longer to be heard, Norman expressed concern and frustration at the costly delay. She said it appeared a competitor in the business was trying to discourage her entrance into the Manchester area.
The former school complex, which is east of Route 7 on routes 11 and 30, was constructed in 1999 as Oak Knoll Assisted Living. It was later converted into a school campus for girls. The school operated for a decade before closing in 2011.
The woodframe structure has five wings stretching out from a main building and encompasses more than 40,454 square feet of floor space. The main parcel is 8.75 acres, and an adjacent home is set on a separate 2.02 acres.
