Oswego approves plans for senior housing development near Village Hall

A senior housing development will be built on an 11 acre parcel just north of Oswego Village Hall as a result of action taken this week by the village board.

During a meeting Tuesday evening, Feb. 2, the board unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement and a special use permit for the project as proposed for a vacant parcel near the northwest corner of Route 31 and West Washington Street by Montgomery Senior Living, LLC.

The village’s planning and zoning commission had previously recommended approval of the project in a split 4-2 vote following a public hearing Nov. 5. The dissenting commissioners expressed concern with the proposed rezoning of the property from commercial to residential use.

In memo to the board, Natali Zine, a village planner, said the proposed senior living community will provide housing with services for older adults in Oswego and surrounding communities.

Zine continued, “The proposed new development includes a senior living community with three distinct levels of housing and care to serve seniors. The main building, which will front onto the north and west sides of the Village Green (area immediately north of Village Hall), will house assisted living and memory care apartments along with associated amenity and support spaces,” Zine wrote. “The remainder of the site, to the west of the main building, will accommodate a variety of independent living attached cottages and townhomes.”

The main building will contain 29 memory care households with 32 beds on the first floor and 66 studio, one bedroom and two bedroom living spaces on the second and third floors, according to Zine.

The independent living community will include 16 two-bedroom townhomes grouped into four-unit clusters, and 31 two-bedroom patio homes grouped into duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes.

“The independent living component of the community will be built out incrementally as commitments for the units are secured,” Zine wrote.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Luis Perez, a village board member, asked the developers if they see opportunities to work with the village in creating programming for residents, continuing a pattern of working with organizations like the Oswego Senior Center.

The representative confirmed that he had communicated with Village Administrator Daniel Di Santo about exactly that.

Perez praised the news, saying he saw it as “a real huge opportunity.”