Assisted Living Facility Developer Asks About Sharon's Sewage Disposal Regs

A developer eyeing a memory care facility in Sharon has asked the board of health about Sharon's sewage disposal regulations.

National Development Project Manager Sherry Clancy asked the board Monday night if it would consider allowing a certain system type, involving fill, with "extraordinary conditions, like maybe getting pre-treatment for getting better water quality."

National Development and are trying to partner on a 40- to 50-unit assisted living facility here.

Land near EPOCH's Norwood Street nursing home has been tested and is under agreement, but not purchased, Clancy said.

A zoning change approved by town meeting would be required, as Sharon's bylaws do not address assisted living facilities. Such a zoning change was proposed at the Nov. 14 fall special town meeting, but withdrawn before reaching voters.

Clancy said she had read the health board's minutes and requested Monday's informal meeting to better grasp the town's rules.

"Even if I end up not purchasing this particular site, I might find another site that I like better, but I might still have this same question," she said.

Chairman Suzi Peck said Sharon, like the state Title 5 regulations, allows variances for new construction only "if you've lost essentially all the economic value of a piece of property."

"No variances for new construction is a standard that we've held very, very strictly to," Peck said.

Sharon is more strict because "most places in the Commonwealth that are on septic don't have the dense development that we do, and aren't totally dependent on groundwater," she said.

Clancy said that "I don't want to make you feel like you're setting a precedent."

"I just have no history with you," she said.