Damariscotta to Consider Application for 102-Bed Nursing Facility

The Damariscotta Planning Board will consider a pre-application for a 102-bed nursing facility at 2 Piper Mill Road, to be named Clippership Landing, on Monday, Aug. 1.

Once the facility is built, residents at Cove’s Edge on LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta and at St. Andrew’s Village in Boothbay Harbor will transition to the home, according to a press release from LincolnHealth.

The goal of the new facility is to “assure high quality nursing care would be available in Lincoln County for years to come,” LincolnHealth President Cindy Wade said in the press release.

“Our nursing care facilities have not been immune to financial losses and regulatory pressures,” Wade said. “We do not want Lincoln County residents to travel multiple hours to see loved ones, so we began reviewing all options to keep care close to home.”

LincolnHealth entered into a study with Sandy River Co. in June 2021 to assess the viability of building a new nursing care facility in Damariscotta.

Sandy River has nearly 40 years of experience designing and developing senior care centers, according to the planning board pre-application. The facility will have all private rooms, only the second such facility in Maine. Sandy River is currently constructing the other similar facility in Rockland.

Since its founding in the 1980s, Sandy River has had a mission to change the design of senior care centers by creating “neighborhoods” with decentralized dining and living areas in home-like environments, while planning and building more private rooms, according to the pre-application.

North Country Associates, a nursing care provider that operates more than 25 other senior care centers, will run the day-to-day operations, while LincolnHealth will appoint a medical director to provide medical leadership, according to the press release.

LincolnHealth has not made a decision on how to use the Cove’s Edge and St. Andrew’s Village spaces after they are vacated.

“We remain committed to the Boothbay Region and we will use the space to meet the health care needs of the community,” Wade said in the press release.

Clippership Landing will be a licensed nursing home and a place for people who require 24-hour nursing care. All of the 102 beds will be eligible for MaineCare and Medicare.

A minor subdivision and site plan application are required as part of the nursing home development, according to notes from Damariscotta Town Planner Isabelle Oechslie.

Oechslie recommended that the planning board review the application and schedule a site visit.

The proposed nursing facility will be within the village expansion growth area as designated by the town’s comprehensive plan, which reads “Within these neighborhoods, a range of residential uses should be allowed … The development of senior housing and retirement and eldercare facilities should also be allowed.”

Sidewalks will need to be constructed as part of the development.

Clippership Landing will sit on a 19.98 acre parcel located across the street from Ledgewood Court Apartments on Piper Mill Road. The facility will be one story and is proposed to have approximately 119 parking spaces.

Daniel Maguire, managing partner at Sandy River Co., said in the pre-application that the company feels that Clippership Landing is a fitting name considering the town’s “rich shipbuilding history.” He referred to the building as a “state-of-the-art licensed nursing care center.”

In addition to approval from the Damariscotta Planning Board, the project requires a certificate of need from the state, a regulatory mechanism for approving major capital expenditures and for certain health care facilities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The planning board will meet at the town office at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1 to consider the pre-application.