Luxury retirement home faces conflict with rural Pierce County neighbors, state
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Pierce County reviews retirement villa expansion in single-family residential zone.
- Neighbors have traffic and environmental concerns; owner says project has low impact.
- Hearing Examiner decision pending after completion of hearing.
A luxury retirement community in the Gig Harbor area is proposing to expand its facility by building four new villas on their property, drawing resistance from neighbors.
Kensington Gardens is a 27-acre property near Olson Drive Northwest and 39th Street Northwest that is tucked away down a narrow, winding road. It’s located in a Rural 5 (R5) zone, in which Pierce County only allows select residential buildings, including duplexes and single-family homes.
The Pierce County Hearing Examiner heard arguments around the contentious property this month, after two residents appealed the county’s determination that Kensington Gardens’ proposal would not have significant negative impacts on the environment.
At the heart of the dispute is a zoning question: Erika and Dana Zimmerman, who live across the street with their two children, take issue with Kensington Gardens’ position that the four new villas they plan to build count as “single-family homes,” under county code.
Kelly Watson, co-owner of the property with her husband Mark, maintains that they’ve followed county regulations and worked with county and state officials as necessary to iron out any confusion. Providing housing for aging adults in a rural residential area is integral to their model and what makes Kensington Gardens unique among other retirement communities, she told The News Tribune. Kensington Gardens began operating in 2007.
The Zimmermans’ appeal of the State Environmental Policy Act approval for the project states that the “project would impact the wetlands, open space, wildlife, stormwater, light, noise, density, traffic, safety, groundwater, land use, aesthetics and rural character of the area.” They see Kensington Gardens as a “commercial development” in a rural area and started a petition, saveruralgigharbor.org, that has since gained over 145 signatures. An earlier online petition they started several years ago against Kensington Gardens has over 1,000 signatures.
The Hearing Examiner scheduled a third day of the hearing Aug. 26. A decision will follow, unless another day is necessary. “In a complex case like this, the Hearing Examiner may take several weeks to issue a decision after the hearing concludes, but the timing is solely at the discretion of the Hearing Examiner,” Pierce County spokesperson Christina Rohila wrote in an email.
A separate challenge to the development is a cease-and-desist order that the state Department of Social and Health Services issued to Kensington Gardens Holdings, LLC in mid-July. The notice alleged that Kensington Gardens has been operating an unlicensed adult family home on the property and says they are subject to a $5,000 civil fine. State law defines an adult family home as a residential home licensed to provide care and services to up to six adults not related to the service provider.
Watson shared letters and emails with The News Tribune showing that Reuben Schutz, an attorney representing Kensington Gardens Holdings LLC, appealed the cease-and-desist order to the state Office of Administrative Hearings. Key to their appeal is that Kensington Gardens offers care through an affiliated entity that is separate from their entity providing housing. That affiliated care provider is licensed as an in-home services agency through the state Department of Health, said Watson, who showed the active certificate to The News Tribune. Watson also said that residents are free to receive care from that entity, Kensington Gardens Corporation, or other licensed in-home service providers.
Schutz said in a phone call Aug. 18 that the appeal stops a 30-day clock for them to cease operations and move out their members, as stated in the notice. Their discussions with the state Department of Social and Health Services are ongoing, and “it’s too early to say” when a resolution might be reached, he said.
Jessica Nelson, a spokesperson for the Department of Social and Health Services, told The News Tribune via email that a pre-hearing conference is scheduled for Sept. 2. If the hearing ends in the department’s favor, Kensington Gardens has 10 days from the final decision to pay the civil fine, she wrote. The department declined to comment further regarding the ongoing case.
Caring for older adults in a rural area near Gig Harbor
Kensington Gardens is a “resort living community,” the website says. It currently includes three buildings: Hawksworth Villa, which has a total of eight suites across two floors; Regent Park, otherwise known as the Manor, which has eight rooms downstairs and three upstairs; and the “carriage house,” which houses offices.
20 residents currently live at Kensington Gardens: 12 at Hawksworth Villa and eight at the Manor, Watson said.
Regent Park is for members who may need services such as medication management and memory care, according to the Kensington Gardens website.
The cost for a one-bedroom suite at Hawksworth Villa starts at a $660,000 one-time membership fee/entrance deposit, which is 75% refundable to the member’s estate. On top of that, there’s a monthly fee that starts at $5,312. Further pricing details are available on the company’s website.
Watson and Kensington Gardens’ Chief Operations Officer Kyle Heatherly said in an interview Aug. 14 that their plan is to build four new villas of similar size to Hawksworth Villa, which has space for 16 residents. Each suite will have its own kitchenette with standalone appliances, but each villa will only have one full kitchen, Heatherly and Watson said.
Watson and Heatherly say their new villas will have minimal effects on the environment and traffic, won’t strain septic system or water resources and will benefit more aging adults with personalized care and community.
Their model of care — which they call a Personalized Care Resort Community or PCRC — involves keeping their communities small and maintaining a team of staff who continue caring for the same residents as their health or cognitive abilities change, Watson said. They’re able to keep spouses or partners together, and have very little staff turnover, according to Watson.
She drew a distinction between Kensington and “continuing care retirement communities,” which provide housing for several hundred residents. Watson said she sees the model they’ve developed for Kensington Gardens as part of the solution to the rising need for assisted living facilities as baby boomers age.
Responding to the Zimmermans’ arguments, Watson told The News Tribune that their project is “leaving over 12 acres totally untouched,” and that much of the tree cover will remain. She also said they monitor their septic and well system every year and that they are far from drawing down those resources. The new villas will be connected to a Washington Water Service system rather than the groundwater, she said.
She also said “the fire department is very on board with this project,” and described how Kensington Gardens cares for their members to prevent incidents like falls or other health-related incidents that would normally require a fire department response. The schools nearby, Harbor Heights Elementary and Goodman Middle School, already bring significant traffic to the area, she said.
Kensington Gardens resident Kathleen Puckett spoke to The News Tribune during a visit to the property. After developing a serious health problem, the former California resident began looking for assisted living options. She was concerned about what she saw, she recalled.
“Everything I saw had long hallways, narrow hallways, mostly dark, maybe light at the end, but with doors that people would just disappear into,” she said.
Kensington Gardens is a place where she’s found community and a comfortable place to live, she said.
“She wants to make everybody feel happy and safe, and in that order,” she said of Watson.
Neighbors concerned about traffic and impacts to rural setting
The Zimmermans say the new villas would alter the area’s rural character, strain the roads with increased traffic and create a precedent for other large properties to obtain approval as single-family homes while functioning as what the Zimmermans see as “commercial-scale dwellings in a rural area.”
Dana Zimmerman said that their home across from Kensington Gardens has been in his wife’s family for over a century. Her great-grandparents built the farmhouse they live in, he said.
He wants his children to have the same access to rural places as he did growing up.
“I also grew up on a farm in a rural area in another state, but it was such a part of my identity and my upbringing and my values,” he said. “This ability to live in a rural area and to try and care for it and preserve it and enjoy it.”
Among their other concerns is that the villas will bring increased traffic to the single, stripeless road running through the neighborhood. People like to take walks on the road, and their kids also walk to school at Harbor Heights Elementary, raising safety concerns, Dana Zimmerman said. He also said there are concerns about emergency services getting to Kensington Gardens if there was a fire or another emergency because of the limited road access.
Not all neighbors share those concerns. Paul Donion lives with his family in a home next to the Zimmermans and across the street from Kensington Gardens. He told The News Tribune he’s appreciated meeting some of the Kensington residents and hearing their stories, describing them as “sweet and amazing people” who have “been true neighbors to my kids.”
Dana Zimmerman shared a collection of other public comments forwarded to the county.
“R5 is intended for single family dwellings only,” one resident near Kensington Gardens wrote in a public comment submitted to the county. “We are long-time residents who live next door to Kensington Gardens. Please protect the quality of life for us and for future residents. Our peaceful, rural quality of life will be greatly impacted with the multi-unit ‘villas.’”
“We are a quiet area of Gig Harbor, where cars move over for dog walkers in the street and wave, where kids walk to their elementary and middle schools, and where small family farms still exist,” another neighbor wrote in a public comment. “I literally look upon cows across my back fence. This is rural Gig Harbor, not a location for a commercial luxury retirement compound.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM.
