Excepted from the Gazette
by Jeremy Hauck, Staff Writer
Victoria Park offers 80 apartments for ‘independent’ seniors
A moving truck on Monday afternoon occupied one of the 102 parking spaces outside Victoria Park at Walkersville, a new three story, 80-unit apartment complex at the intersection of Sandstone Drive and Md. Route 194.
Already, the complex is “45 percent leased,” said Lydia B. Clark, development associate for Annapolis-based Osprey Property Company.
Clark was preparing for today’s open house, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Seven residents live in the complex, she said, and 12 more are expected within a fortnight. ‘‘We’re pretty happy with that,” Clark said.
The nearly 90,000-square foot building cost $13 million: $6 million in tax credits from the Maryland Housing and Community Development Administration, $1.5 million in state funding and $5.5 million in private debt.
Linda Kraft of New Market was helping her mother, Wilda Healey, move into a ground-floor apartment this week. With the door open, Kraft stood in the kitchen, and Healey stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, her elbows resting on it.
“I was checking for her, for a senior building, because she was living in Hagerstown and we wanted to move her closer,” Kraft said, adding that a fellow volunteer at the New Market Volunteer Fire Company told her about Victoria Park.
Walkersville officials last year felt so strongly about bringing housing for seniors who live on fixed incomes to town that they granted Victoria Park an exemption from the town’s growth ordinance. After all, former Commissioner James E. Reid cited Walkersville’s lack of senior housing in his letter of resignation from the board in November. Reid subsequently moved to Taneytown.
“There is very limited senior housing in the Frederick and Carroll [counties] area,” said Joan Neff, community manager of Victoria Park at Walkersville on Monday.
Carolyn B. True, director of the Frederick County Department of Aging, said in an e-mail Wednesday that the demand is created by senior citizens who want less space, and want to do fewer demanding chores.
“Older adults are moving to the Frederick area from Howard and Montgomery counties as well as other states to be closer to children/grandchildren, and the proximity to the Washington/Baltimore metro area and all the cultural amenities these areas offer are just as attractive to older people as well as younger people,” True said in the e-mail.
In 2005, Walkersville commissioners signed a letter of support for Victoria Park. On March 14, 2007, they voted unanimously to amend the town’s zoning laws to allow the development to proceed, with some conditions. There has to be a homeowners association to enforce the 55-and-older age restriction, the 4 1/2-acre plot of land must be zoned commercial and 25 percent of the property must be used for business.
“This is something that’s desperately needed in town,” Commissioner Donald W. Schildt said during the vote.
Residents who live at the complex will have to walk the sidewalk along Md. Route 194 or drive the busy state highway in order to reach Walkersville’s Old Town – the complex, which has 102 parking spaces for residents, will have no shuttle service. It is located across the highway from Walkers Village Shopping Center, and a small plaza is planned for a 1 acre plot on the grounds.
Clark said a nearby TransIT bus stop will serve residents who wish to reach Frederick without driving. That service may prove to be crucial.
“What also must be considered with older adult communities is the location and inclusion of transportation as an amenity, or the community must be located near public transportation,” True said. “There may come a time when an older adult can no longer drive and will have to rely on transportation provided by the community, a nonprofit (like Partners in Care) or public transportation.”
Clark has been busy giving tours for people who see the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired complex, with its stone exterior and clean lines.
She pointed out the “Zen fountain” in the ground floor sunroom, a baby grand piano in the dining room, a the third-floor community room overlooking the building’s stormwater retention pond.
According to Osprey Property Company materials, Glade Valley Community Services, a group of volunteers from local churches, has agreed to provide community activities and resident services at the complex.
The apartments range from 680 to 975 square feet in size and are $605 to $1,030 to rent. Only seniors 62 or older earning 40, 50 or 60 percent of the local median income – roughly $90,000, according to Clark – can live there.