Simsbury’s Zoning Commission has unanimously approved McLean Affiliates’ plan to build 40 independent-living homes on its retirement community campus, clearing the way for a project that was rejected in its original form more than a year ago.
The commission voted Monday night to approve a site plan and special exception for the development, known as McLean Meadow Homes, on the nonprofit’s 110-acre campus at 75 Great Pond Road.
The commission also approved a companion application amending three sections of the town’s zoning regulations, including removing a requirement that healthcare facilities be located within 300 feet of an arterial road and exempting healthcare facilities and continuing care retirement communities from the town’s inclusionary housing rules.
The approval caps a lengthy and contentious review. Simsbury’s wetlands commission unanimously rejected McLean’s original 52-unit proposal in May 2025, finding it would likely harm wetland hydrology and that the applicant had failed to show there were no better alternatives with less environmental impact.
McLean returned five months later with a smaller plan that cut the project to 40 duplex-style homes, reduced wetland crossings from two to one and shifted development away from protected habitat, including Eastern Box Turtle nesting areas. The wetlands agency unanimously approved the revised plan, and the zoning application followed, with public hearings before Monday’s vote.
“This approval marks an important milestone for McLean and for the future of senior living in Simsbury and the region,” McLean President Lisa Clark said in a statement. “The Meadow Homes expansion will allow more older adults to remain in the community they know and value while strengthening the long-term sustainability of an organization that has served this town for generations.”
Clark said McLean is grateful to the zoning commission, the wetlands agency “and the many residents, neighbors, and community organizations who engaged thoughtfully throughout this process.”
The development will occupy about 22 acres on the southern portion of McLean’s campus, which is surrounded by single-family homes and the Hop Meadow Country Club, which McLean also owns.
The existing campus includes 131 independent living units, 71 assisted living units and 89 skilled nursing beds. The facility underwent a $68 million expansion in 2020.
The project drew persistent opposition from neighbors and environmental advocates. Critics also objected to McLean’s use of town-wide text amendments to advance a single project, warning during the June 15 hearing that exempting continuing care communities from inclusionary zoning could open a loophole for other developments.
McLean’s attorney, Joseph P. Williams of Shipman & Goodwin, argued the inclusionary housing rules were never designed for life plan communities, where residents pay entrance and monthly service fees for a bundled package of housing and lifetime healthcare rather than rent. McLean subsidizes care for residents who rely on Medicaid, he wrote, meaning it “effectively provides affordable housing.”
