Mr. Kahm continued by stating that they have met all the zoning |
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requirements for this facility pursuant to the Zoning Ordinance, with the |
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exception of the parking. Understanding that this was going to be a |
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concern, they went ahead and did a two-month analysis of their actual |
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parking demand. Given the age of the population at their facility, there |
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aren't a lot of people who drive. For the ones who do drive, their cars sit |
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there most of the time. Even though the ordinance contemplates somewhat |
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of a different population, in actuality, it's clear that they have far more |
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parking spaces than they actually need, based on the population in their |
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building. In the assisted living facility, there will be even less of a demand. |
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In analyzing their peak demand (example: a family picnic), they even |
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accommodated all the families that might participate in such an event. He |
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said that they chose this number as a standard for the existing facility and |
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then tried to meet the requirements of assisted living in the Zoning |
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Ordinance. They added the two numbers together and they do have those |
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number of spaces on their site plan. He noted that, technically, they do not |
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meet the standards of the ordinance. He said that they will ask for a waiver |
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from City Council for that. Otherwise, he believed that they meet all the |
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requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. |
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Mr. Alan Tuomaala showed a composite of the new development. He |
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pointed to an area where a large berm exists that would obscure the |
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two-story building from the four residential homes to the north. They were |
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concerned as to what would happen when they start to develop further to the |
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north. The first position they took, in terms of design, was to limit their |
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building to a one-story building. The second concern was how could they |
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maintain, effectively, the present visual screen that's provided by that berm |
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that was built there during the construction of the first phase. He pointed out |
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that they met with the residents on several occasions and the four residents |
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of the homes to the north agreed to allow them to take pictures from their |
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windows, looking out at the site. They came up with a graphic |
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representation of what they see now and what they would see once the |
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property was developed. He noted that what they presently see is rooftops, |
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and perhaps a small part of the second story, tops of windows, etc., from |
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their home. What they propose to do is to take that berm, which has an |
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apex of approximately 100' away from the rear property line, and slice it. |
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Then, they would retain the existing berm portion on the north side as a |
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retaining wall, which would vary from a high point of about 13' high down to |
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about 6' as it wraps around the westerly property line. |
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Mr. Tuomaala noted several other concerns in meeting with the various |
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residents (both in groups and individually). The resident located at the north |
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corner of their site had some problem views from the shopping center. He |
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explained how they are going to increase the height of the shopping |
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center's screenwall by two feet so that the transition of their wall will be |
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compatible at the point where they meet. This will provide some form of |
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screening and obscurity for this particular resident as they look out into the |
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rear parking area of the shopping center. He said that they will continue to |
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deal with individual residents in addition to some planting as they wrap this |
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corner into the existing landscaping. |
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