From the Email Inbox: Senior Center Delay Again...

Dear Grandpa,

Do you remember when you first started the blog? You said it would be better to hide our identity because the City will go after you. While it was an ambiguous statement at the time, I now see what you mean. With the power of Redevelopment and hidden decisions, the public is at a loss for making sound decisions. I am concerned that we (tax payers) will be stuck with this bill too. When will the citizens say enough? This project was never meant for the citizens of Grand Terrace. Joann Johnson has too much money to live there. Or maybe she will get one of the five apartments that will be for median income. The rest are for those on social security with no assets or income. I am not against housing seniors who are on social security. I am apprehensive of the City’s delusional actions and punishing the citizens because a few have the foresight to file a lawsuit based on an environmental impact report. It is my feeling that if enough people became aware of what this City Council is really costing us by their secretive, back-door agreements with developers, we could change Grand Terrace to a pro-family and pro-children community. Isn’t that the reason people moved here in the first place – The possibility of raising their children in a healthy environment? The City continues to misrepresent the impact these projects will have on the people who really count – The families of Grand Terrace.

How you may ask? Originally the Council put a 5% across the board property tax increase with no accountability. When that didn’t pass, they took away the Recreation Department. Little as it may have been, it had possibility. They put in parks with state monies, but put up signs that limit its use and don’t maintain the trails and vegetation. They create useless pocket-parks and erect useless, meaningless marble statues that cost way too much money. They conspire with developers to build high density housing and commercial development in an area that is at the most unhealthy living standards with regards to air, noise and traffic. I’m concerned that many have become numb to the fact that we don’t have to agree to this. It is obvious that we have no one supporting the youth on our City Council. The only way to change that is to consistently speak out.

Thank you for allowing a forum to do just that without the fear of retaliation from the City – Steve Berry, who will find a way to make your life miserable.

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Pawww:
You were right again…. Darn you….

You said that there were still pending law suits, when the City Crowed they were going ahead because they “Won the Court Cases”.

You were right, that the Tax Payers will be funding the Building by the City’s Payment of 9.5 Million (Which is Debt Redevelopment Funds obligated by the City), and Tax Deferments, (That is money not paid to the County and the City). The CHEEP lease of the land to the Corporation for Better Housing, and then the use of BONDS to fund the completion of the project should all be suspect. Now why on earth did the city agree to put the City’s Funds up to be spent FIRST ? Why on earth did they just approve an additional $700.000.00 for the building?

Well, let us all remember the Corporation for Better Housing has been generous in its contributions to Political Campaigns, and Grand Terrace Days, and Party Funds managed by Steve Berry and Tom Schwab and the City Council.

The efforts to “appease the residents” did not result in the reduction of the density issues with the project. The appeasement was cosmetic not really addressing the problem of putting high, no VERY High density housing in a low density housing area. The hearings that lead to the approval of this plan were not done correctly and rather than start over when it would have been financially advisable, the “Management” of the city went on like a tank in a field of babes.

It is time the City is subject to a full Criminal Audit of all its actions and financial dealings and money management. This all stinks.
The Senior Center should have been built where it was planned on Barton Road where there are other services like the limited public transportation, stores and other shops.

You predicted the economic conditions we in Grand Terrace are now facing. Yep, it me the city change its approach to “Sustainability” the City should be promoting the planting of fruit trees, home gardens and the use of Chicken Tractors.

For anyone looking at this a Chicken Tractor holds 5 chickens and is moved around the lawn allowing the chickens to eat the grass and bugs as a diet supplement. They move around daily, provide eggs and meat, and trim the lawn… Roosters are not needed for eggs, and are by the way less noisy than your neighbor teenager band.

It is time for the City to bend over backwards to find a business that will actually MAKE JOBS other than Retail in Grand Terrace.

GT senior housing project delayed again
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/02/2008 09:56:05 PM PST


GRAND TERRACE - Construction on the city's first senior housing complex has been put on hold because of legal and financial issues.
The 120-unit apartment complex, known as the Blue Mountain Senior Villas, was supposed to open in February. Construction is about halfway completed on the project, located on Grand Terrace Road just east of Mount Vernon Avenue.

In addition to the apartments, the project is slated to include a 7,000-square-foot senior center and a 2.5-acre park.

Now, officials said the project may be delayed another nine months to a year.

The one- and two-bedroom project geared toward low- and middle-income seniors was approved by the City Council in 2005. A small group of residents subsequently filed a lawsuit, claiming that potential environmental impacts weren't adequately addressed.

A short time later, a San Bernardino Superior Court judge ruled there was a "fair argument" that the original proposal did not comply with California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

In response to the ruling, the city performed a detailed environmental study to analyze the potential impacts.

The study showed that any possible negative impacts - such as noise, traffic and air quality - could be reduced to less than significant levels.

As a result of the ruling, the city also agreed to reduce the height of the apartment complex and senior center from three stories to two and make other changes to appease residents' concerns.
The city's environmental report was upheld at the trial court level earlier this year.

Raymond Johnson, the Temecula-based attorney representing the group known as Citizens for Responsible and Open Government, filed a last-minute appeal of the ruling in mid-November.

"We felt the judge in the lower court made a mistake in his ruling relative to land-use impacts and the density of the project being inconsistent with the densities provided in the General Plan," Johnson said.

While the appeal has no direct effect on continued construction of the project, it will take up to a year before the court makes a decision, officials said.

The project is jointly funded by the city Redevelopment Agency and the Corporation for Better Housing, a Sherman Oaks-based nonprofit developer.

The city has used up its share of $9.5 million on the initial stages of construction. The remaining $10million to finish the project is coming from the developer in the form of bond money and tax credits.

Because of uncertainty in the credit markets, the mere existence of an appeal means that banks will not loan the developer the money to finish construction, said acting City Manager Steve Berry.

"The money is there," Berry said, "but the bank is refusing to loan it out until all the legal challenges are resolved."

JoAnn Johnson, the city's volunteer director of senior services, said residents have been waiting a long time for the housing complex to open.

"It's a real blow to us," she said of the latest delay.