Three steps remained for The Osborn Home to receive approval from the Rye City Planning Commission to begin work on its first major construction update in 20-plus years. The senior living facility checked off two of those three boxes on Tuesday night.
A public hearing was closed, and it was determined the project will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, one of the final looming questions, primarily due to public concerns about the site’s water drainage plans.
Now, all that remains is a vote on a resolution of approval, which would allow The Osborn to move forward with its plans to build several new facilities, including independent living apartment buildings, an assisted living building, wellness amenity building, and cottages.
“Christian Miller (Rye’s city planner) will put together a draft of the resolution, and the commission will review it and make changes as required,” Planning Commission Chair Nick Everett told The Record. “It’s too early to say if a draft will be ready by our next meeting, but that is the plan.”
The next Planning Commission meeting is June 23.
In The Obsorn’s 11th appearance before the commission on Tuesday — which came 364 days after its first presentation on June 10, 2025 — discussion began on LaBella Associates’ final review of the plans. LaBella, the commission’s engineering consultant, submitted a letter with its findings on Monday. (Full letter is included below.)
“The initial review of the documents provided resulted in 83 comments as shown below. … The applicant has satisfied all outstanding comments with two (2) comment topics requiring further review at time of permit submission,” the letter says.
The two comments requiring further review relate to logistics and safety during the construction phase. The letter asks for design details to be provided on fire department access gates and pathways throughout the construction. The other comment asks for continued refinements to a resident safety plan during the building permit review process.
The site’s water drainage plans, particularly at the intersection of Osborn Road and Theall Road, and any other potential environmental concerns, have been addressed to the commission’s satisfaction.
On May 12, The Osborn shared the results of a stormwater system technical review and field testing of soil with the Planning Commission.
“As part of the technical review of the stormwater system, LaBella requested The Osborn conduct additional field testing of soils,” said a May 5 letter to the commission from Steven Wrabel, a partner at the law firm representing The Osborn. “Based on the field data, The Osborn has upgraded its stormwater mitigation plans to satisfy LaBella’s comments. Notably, the Applicant has incorporated an additional stormwater basin south of the existing cottages, which will provide additional stormwater detention and infiltration.”
A public hearing was reopened at the May 26 Planning Commission meeting, which the commission closed on Tuesday.
“Since the May 26th meeting, the Applicant’s civil engineering consultant, DTS Provident Design Engineering (“DTS Provident”), has provided detailed responses to all remaining comments from LaBella Associates,” said a June 2 letter to the commission from Wrabel.
After a year submitting plans and refinements for the Planning Commission’s review, The Osborn received the negative declaration it needed Tuesday to proceed to the approval stage, without the need to undergo any additional environmental impact reviews.
