Sprawlsville Manor

What do you do when you have a huge mansion in disrepair, no estate plan, no liquidity, and a whole lot of land? You could just develop the whole thing, but the owners of Doughoregan Manor may have found a solution that might be more palatable to the County officials. The current plan is the build a retirement community, consisting of 1,000 apartments in four story buildings covering 150 acres. The remainder of the property may be preserved in perpetuity, which is the gem in this plan.

Lack of diversity in housing? Check. Lack of diversity in residents? Check. Far enough away from everyday needs to require everyone to have a car? Check. Externalizing the costs of public utilities to the taxpayers? Check. Sounds like the zoning laws are operating as they were intended! At least this plan would result in some open space, albeit this open space would be in private hands. Welcome to Sprawlsville!

"An Erickson Retirement Community would require no more than 150 acres. That's about half of what we were first planning to develop. It's one-sixth of what we could develop by right. Thus the Erickson option preserves the most land, which is one of our primary goals."

Under current zoning, the family could build hundreds of new homes, though they would be spread over most of the property.

Their plan is to squeeze new development into a small portion of land nearest Centennial Lane, preserving the rest.

A retirement community also eliminates worry about crowded schools, and Erickson typically builds self-contained complexes that include medical care, restaurants, and transportation for residents who can move into assisted-living units as they become frail.

But a project with more than 1,000 apartments in buildings as high as four stories would also require public water and sewer lines, and the Carrolls' land is just beyond the current boundary for public utilities.

Ulman and Watson said yesterday they can see distinct advantages to the concept, but that they are wary.

"The only way I could agree to support this is if the rest of the land is preserved in perpetuity," Ulman said.