In the News: JUNE 21 BMSV EIR PUBLIC MEETING

G.T. senior-housing project set to move forward
Completion of study paves way for project review by city panel
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 06/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_6144805
GRAND TERRACE - After more than a year of delays, plans for a new senior housing project are finally moving forward.

Construction of the 120-unit apartment complex and 7,000-square-foot senior center was postponed after a group of residents filed a lawsuit challenging the City Council's approval of the project in September 2005.

San Bernardino Superior Court Judge John Wade subsequently required the city to conduct a comprehensive environmental study to evaluate noise, traffic and other potential impacts.
The project, known as the Blue Mountain Senior Villas, is planned near the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Grand Terrace Road.

The environmental-impact report was completed in April. The project is expected to be heard by the Planning Commission on June 21.

If the commission recommends approval, the plans likely will be considered by the council in July.

City officials hope to begin construction in August and open the complex a year later.
City Manager Tom Schwab said the environmental study and legal fees associated with the lawsuit totaled about $200,000. The cost was split between the city's Redevelopment Agency and the Corporation for Better Housing, the nonprofit developer of the project.

The $19 million project will be paid for with public and private funds.
About $9 million will come from the Redevelopment Agency. The remainder will be financed with tax credits and bond money borrowed by the developer.

Schwab is confident all the hurdles to the project have been overcome.
"We addressed all the issues that needed to be addressed," Schwab said. "We think our (environmental-impact report) is pretty solid. If we have to take it to court, we can defend it."
In response to residents' concerns, city officials decided to make the entire complex two stories. Part of the building originally was slated to be three floors.

Despite the changes to the project, some neighbors remain opposed.
"A parking lot will be 10 feet from my property line," said Barbara Berliner, a 55-year-old Brentwood Street resident who lives directly behind the project site. "You can have 53 cars going behind your home any time of the day and night with car alarms, doors slamming and idling."

Berliner also said the senior complex should be built in another part of town.
"This doesn't belong in a residential area," Berliner said. "It belongs downtown where people can walk."

JoAnn Johnson, the senior center's volunteer director, disagreed with the assertion that parking would be a problem.
"The people who are going to be living there are not the people who are going to be going in and out," Johnson said. "A lot of them won't have cars. When they do come and go, they normally will avoid busy times of the day."

Mayor Maryetta Ferre said she is anxious for the project to get built.
"I think it's time for us to take care of all of the loose ends that needed to be taken care of and move forward on it," Ferre said.
Contact writer Stephen Wall at (909) 386-3916 or via e-mail at stephen.wall@sbsun.com.