Smith Packett Nursing Homes held a
public meeting on May 29 at Sherwood
High School to discuss their proposal to
build a nursing home at the intersection
of Bentley Road and Route 108. The
location will be behind (north of) the
Lowest Price gas station on Route 108
and across Bentley Road from the Sandy
Spring Museum on the east (see diagram
to the left). The nursing home will
require that a special exception be
approved by the County.
Scott Miller, the Smith Packett Nursing
Home representative, gave the
presentation. The
slides used in the presentation and
a
concept plan can be viewed online.
The planned nursing home is being
developed in collaboration with
Adventist HealthCare. It will have
assisted living, skilled nursing, a
dialysis center, and short term
rehabilitation services. There will be
long term care, including care for both
dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. The
nursing home will house 124 patients and
there will be a mixture of single (32)
and double (46) rooms.
The company’s Springbrook nursing home
in Silver Spring, which houses 90
patients, will be shut down and the
services moved to the new nursing home
in Sandy Spring.
There will be approximately 100
employees, with about 40 employees in
each of the morning and afternoon
shifts. Shifts are normally 7 AM – 3
PM, 3PM – 11 PM, and 11 PM – 7 AM. It
is anticipated that a number of
Springbrook employees will transfer to
the new facility, but there will be
employment opportunities for others as
well.
The design has three stories in the back
(north side) and two stories in the
front of the building. The total height
at the back will be about 45 feet. Only
the first level will be visible from
Route 108. The basement will house
storage and the kitchen.
Question: Why is Springbrook
being closed down?
Answer: It is an old
facility and needs substantial
renovations. It was decided not to
renovate but to move the facility to a
new building.
Question: How does the
building comply with the Sandy
Spring-Ashton Master Plan? It doesn’t
seem rural in scale and architecture.
Answer: We will design a
building that complies with the Master
Plan.
Comment: The rural atmosphere of the
community is very important to the
residents and is emphasized in the
Master Plan.
Comment: The size of the
building is too big for the lot, which,
in itself conflicts with the supposed
rural appearance of the building.
Response: About 60%-75% of
the space will be green space (including
lawn and trees), 15% will be the
building and the rest, a parking area.
The houses behind will be screened from
the building by trees.
Comment: Bentley Road is a
historic district and it is designed to
remain a rural, historic area. The
people on Bentley Road have applied to
have it designated as a rural rustic
road, which would mean that there would
be no curb cuts allowed and the road
could not be expanded.
Comment: There was a concern
expressed about lighting, especially
light pollution.
More about the Bentley Road Nursing Home
