City Council Approves Senior Living Facility Expansion

PhoThe Phoenix City Council recently approved a 100-bed expansion for a proposed senior living facility to be located at the corner of 43rd St. and Lone Mountain Rd. Council members voted to approve the expansion despite opposition from many in the Desert View Village community, known for its extensive network of riding trails
Through their approval of the new plans for the assisted senior living facility, the city council authorized the expansion of the building to encompass 100 beds, but the structure continues to maintain the required 40% lot coverage allotment as well as its original single-story design. Initial plans for the facility were approved back in 2014, but the expansion plans generated new opposition from neighborhood residents. The city's Planning and Development Director told council members that the new plans are in response to a need for additional beds for an aging population.
“The applicant is proposing to put in as a part of this assisted living facility that will help provide more beds in this area for people as they age and need additional care,” Planning and Development Director Alan Stephenson said.
City council members and city officials said their approval was based on the necessity of an increased amount of beds for the area, since the population continues to age towards the need of an assisted living facility, and the area lacks a significant amount of space for senior citizens. By approving a new facility that can accommodate 100 people in the area, people can leave their elderly relatives at the nearby center, and their proximity to their assisted living facility will allow them to frequently visit their relatives without a significant commute.
“There is an extreme shortage of beds, we’re not just talking about it for this case this is something that has come up years ago,” Councilman Jim Waring said.
Prior to voting 8-1 to approve the amendments to the project plans, the city council heard from the proponents and opponents to the amendments. The project was represented by a lawyer from Rose Law Group, and the opponents of the project were primarily residents of the area.
“There’s a growing elderly population in this area of Phoenix and throughout the valley, and this means plenty of additional capacity is needed in the area,” Thomas Galvin, a lawyer for Rose Law Group, said.
Since the Desert View Village neighborhood has traditionally been a rural community that allows horse riders to travel throughout the area, residents held concerns that the increase in traffic caused by the assisted living facility would hinder their community by polluting the area with reckless drivers that could endanger residents. According to the president of the Lone Mountain Community Association, residents additionally felt that the drastic change in size exemplified a betrayal by the developers, since the community had issues with the size of the assisted living facility from its initial proposal.
“They saw that this increase in size, although falling within the limits of the 40% maximum lot use, would have a deleterious effect on our rural equestrian dominated area in the form of noise, lighting and traffic congestion,” Norman Neville, President of the Lone Mountain Community Association, said.
Despite the significant dispute that local advocates raised about the issues that the senior assisted living facility would create, city council members felt that the benefits of the facility created a necessity for the facility. Council members also commented that traffic generated by this type of facility typically does not hinder local communities, since the facility will only generate an additional 14 trips in the morning and 22 additional trips at night.
“I believe senior centers are the lowest business use in terms of traffic generated,” Councilman Jim Waring said.