News Coverage on Senior Villas

Residents square off over senior complex
GRAND TERRACE: Some say the elderly need care; others say it will ruin the view from their homes.
12:50 AM PDT on Friday, August 5, 2005
By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA / The Press-Enterprise
The blueprints for Grand Terrace's first senior-housing complex have been drawn, and so have the battle lines between residents opposing the project and those favoring it.
The first face-off between the groups was Thursday during a public hearing organized by the Planning Commission.
With one week before the proposed $19 million plan to build 120 low- to moderate- income condos with a 6,500-square-foot senior center and 4-acre park on Grand Terrace Road is presented to the City Council, residents voiced their opinions to city officials.
Those in favor of the center cited a need to care for the elderly, while those opposed cited an increase in traffic and the loss of their view from their homes.
"By the drawings I've seen, your building will start at my property, and now I get to look at a building rather than a beautiful view," Daniel Berliner said. "I've lived here for 19 years, and I guess this is how I get thanked."
For city officials and the center's developer, Corporation for Better Housing, that type of disagreement was expected.
Bill Timmons, an industry consultant contracted by the developer to gather public opinion, said he submitted a report to the city stating that although the majority of Grand Terrace's residents were in favor of the center, there were a few strongly opposing it.
To those in opposition, City Manager Tom Schwab said he understands when something new is built there will be some disagreement, but if he lived in the affected neighborhood he would still welcome it.
Mary Silverstein, Corporation for Better Housing's executive vice president, said if the center is approved, Grand Terrace's seniors will enjoy state-of-the-art housing, a library in the senior center, a large kitchen, a community room with a mobile stage, and an arts and crafts room with a sink.
"We are hoping to break ground if not at the end of this year then definitely in the spring," Silverstein said. "If all goes well, it will take about one year to complete the construction."
Silverstein said that she is working with the principal of neighboring Terrace View Elementary School to create programs where seniors can register to tutor children.
Another planned program is to have Terrace View Elementary children perform for the seniors on the center's mobile stage.
Virginia Harford said if the center is approved along with the programs, the seniors of Grand Terrace would benefit.
"It would be an enjoyable past-time if students would come and perform for us, because the kids can learn what its like to be elderly, and the elderly can feel younger by being around children."
Reach Massiel Ladrón de Guevara at (909) 806-3054 or mdeguevara@pe.com
Online at: http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_B_bseniors05.1de78171.html

San Bernardino County Sun
GT senior housing project opposedBy Stephen WallStaff Writer
Thursday, August 04, 2005 -

GRAND TERRACE - Residents on Thursday night expressed opposition to a proposed three-story senior housing project, saying it would ruin their mountain views and generate too much traffic.

The Planning Commission discussed the proposal, but no decision had been made late Thursday night.

The 120-unit project, known as the Blue Mountain Senior Villas, also includes a 6,500-square-foot senior center and a four-acre park. It would be built on six acres of city-owned land on Grand Terrace Avenue, east of Mount Vernon Avenue. "I get to look at a building now instead of a beautiful mountain scene,' said Daniel Berliner, who lives on Brentwood Street. Kim Hathaway, who lives on Vista Grande Way, said she is not opposed to senior housing and a senior center. "We feel it has a proper place, which is not at the top of the hill,' said Hathaway, 57. "A three-story venue in the city of Grand Terrace has no place aesthetically.'

Ninety percent of the apartments would be set aside for low- and moderate-income seniors. The rest would be rented at market rates, City Manager Tom Schwab said. An age requirement has not been determined.

"This fills a genuine need in Grand Terrace,' JoAnn Johnson, president of the Grand Terrace Senior Center, said before the meeting. "There is no senior housing at all in Grand Terrace at the moment. Grand Terrace needs more low- and moderate-income housing. It's important for a lot of reasons.'

The city Redevelopment Agency would pay $9 million of the $18 million cost of the project, Schwab said. The remaining amount would come from private investors and federal tax-credit dollars, he said.

A new senior center would be built next to the housing complex. It would feature a computer and library room and large restrooms, Johnson said.
City officials said the project would generate nearly 600 daily vehicle trips.
Because many trips are already made to the existing senior center on the site, the project would not have a significant impact on traffic circulation, Community Development Director Gary Koontz said in a report.

Some residents at the meeting supported the proposal.

"I think it's a terrific idea,' said 75-year-old Virginia Harford . "It would be nice to know it's there if I need it. It's affordable housing for seniors. We would be safe, and we wouldn't have to worry about doing our own housekeeping.'
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