From In the NEWS: Blue Mt. Senior Villas/Senior Center

Action on senior housing plan in Grand Terrace postponed
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/26/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT


GRAND TERRACE - The long wait for the city's first senior housing complex just got a little longer.

The City Council on Tuesday night postponed taking action on revised plans for a 120-unit senior apartment project, 7,000-square-foot senior center and 2.6-acre park.

The attorney for a group opposed to the project faxed a letter to the city Tuesday afternoon expressing concerns about traffic, noise, air quality and other impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.

City Attorney John Harper recommended that the council postpone a decision for 30 days to give officials time to respond to the comments.

The project, known as the Blue Mountain Senior Villas, is planned on about six acres of city-owned land on the south side of Grand Terrace Road, just east of Mount Vernon Avenue.

The council in September 2005 approved a similar project on the site.

Shortly after the approval, a group of residents filed a lawsuit challenging the city's initial environmental review.

San Bernardino Superior Court Judge John P. Wade ruled the earlier project might have violated the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

The city agreed to do a comprehensive environmental analysis to show that the project would not produce excessive amounts of noise as well as traffic and would be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.

In response to neighbors' concerns, the city made the entire residential building two stories. Part of the structure initially was slated to be three stories.

Most of the apartments will have below-market rents for low- and moderate-income seniors ages 65 and older. A small number of units will be rented at market rates.

The $19 million project will be paid for with a combination of city Redevelopment Agency funds, tax credits and bond money borrowed by the developer - the Sherman Oaks-based Corporation for Better Housing.

Despite changes to the original plans, some neighbors said the project will still block their views as well as generate traffic and noise. Some want the complex in another part of town and away from a residential area.

Raymond Johnson, the Temecula-based attorney representing the group known as Citizens for Responsible and Open Government, said in his letter that the project is inconsistent with the city's General Plan.

City Manager Tom Schwab disagreed, calling Johnson's letter a "delaying tactic" that won't stop the project from getting built.

Schwab said the city's environmental impact report is "solid" and would withstand further legal challenges.

JoAnn Johnson, director of the Grand Terrace Senior Center, said she is growing impatient with the delays.

"It's extremely frustrating," Johnson said.