Proposed Assisted Living facility as presented in March, 2011. All but the west wing extensions would be located over the existing footprint
Sept. 4th, 2011 – While most projects that go before the Planning Commission and/or the City Council for review and approval do not have public reviews prior to their appearance before those venues, the public will have opportunities to learn about and provide input for the proposed senior assisted living facility at the former Skilled Nursing Facility on Sierra Madre Blvd. on multiple occasions, beginning this Wednesday. According to a press release from the City, “A neighborhood meeting to receive public input for a proposed senior assisted living facility will be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sierra Madre Recreation Center (Sierra Madre Room) located at 611 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. The proposed project site is a 1.84 acre property located 245 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., at northwest corner of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Hermosa Avenue (across the street from City Hall). The new facility will include a 58,000 square foot, two-story building that can accommodate up to 96 residents.
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. at which time members of the public are invited to view the proposed plans and talk with representatives of the developer and city staff. A presentation on the proposed project will begin at 7:15 p.m. when an overview and description of the project will be provided. City staff will also outline the public hearing and environmental review processes for future additional public input.”
Fountain Square Development West, the Poway based company proposing to build the facility, made a preliminary presentation before City Council in March, providing contact information to residents that wanted to comment on the plans at that time (Project Manager Billy Shields, (858) 748-0201, BShields@FSProps.com). After the announcement of the Wednesday night meeting, I again contacted Mr. Shields, and asked if it were possible to get electronic files of the updated plans for the site so that people might be able to review them prior to Wednesday night’s meeting. He responded: “It would be premature to publish the information contained within our application at this time. We continue to work through some details of the Specific Plan with the city and until that document is final (the site plan, elevations, etc. being a part) it’s not appropriate to publish any part of that plan.
Anyone who understands the planning process of any city, understands the importance of presenting only completed material for public review. To do otherwise would result in confusion and misinformation.
We’re looking forward to the community meeting Sept. 7 when we can share our proposed project in detail, hear concerns possibly not yet addressed and answer questions from members of the community. This will be the first of what we anticipate to be a number of opportunities the community will have to review and discuss the project. For additional information, please contact the Development Services Department at 626-355-7138.”