SCARBOROUGH – This week the Scarborough Town Council was expected to vote on whether to take the first step in amending the contract zone for the Piper Shores retirement community, which wants to build a new memory care unit on its seaside campus.

In mid-September the council held a workshop session with Piper Shores representatives to talk about its plans for the future, which also include building 52 independent living units at a later date.

In a letter sent to the council prior to its meeting on Wednesday, held after the Current’s deadline, Jim Adamowicz, CEO of Piper Shores, officially requested consideration of the amendment to the contract zone, which first received approval in 1997.

In his letter, Adamowicz said, “there is a real need for the addition of memory care units for those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Piper Shores has also identified a need for additional assisted living units and an arts building.”

In all, he said, Piper Shores is requesting permission to build 28 new assisted living units and a new arts building, which would be located adjacent to the independent living facility.

At the workshop this fall, the prior council was in favor of Piper Shores building a new memory care unit, but had some reservations about the construction of additional facilities.

With the two new councilors now on the board, following the November elections, it’s unclear how the council will react to the current request from Piper Shores.

The facility was built under a controversial contract zone and the expansion projects would require an amendment to that contract with the town.

This fall, Adamowicz told the Town Council that Piper Shores must “evolve to serve both current and future generations” and said there is now a greater demand for senior living services, particularly assisted care and dementia care.

He added that the needs of baby boomers will have a “profound societal impact” and that seniors are already demanding “high quality care and services,” which he said Piper Shores wants to provide.

The first step in amending the contract zone is for the council to refer the proposal to the Planning Board, which would then make a recommendation to the town’s governing board. The council would then hold at least one public hearing before deciding whether to give final approval to the proposal.

This fall Adamowicz said the goal is for Piper Shores to receive approval for the contract zone amendment in time to begin construction of the new memory unit in the summer or fall of 2015.

During the September workshop Adamowicz told the council that Piper Shores is the highest taxpayer and sixth largest employer in Scarborough and said that during the 13 years since the facility first opened it’s had a “remarkably positive impact” on the town.

Piper Shores is located off Spurwink Road, near the Higgins Beach community. The entire campus consists of 138 acres, and the facility offers 160 independent living apartments and 40 cottages, along with 40 skilled nursing beds and 20 assisted living beds.