Thirty-one year resident, Rosie Garcia, says she has spent most of her time raising a family, however, she did find a few moments to attend the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday to hear about a new senior living development.
Up for talks was the 225-unit retirement and assisted living community, Crestavilla, to be constructed at Niguel Road and Crown Valley Parkway, on the same property as the oldest church in Laguna Niguel, Shepherd of the Hills.
The Commission unanimously approved the project to be developed by Flintridge Partners based in Irvine. The new building will have between two and four stories, and about 211,000 square feet.
Located at 30111 Niguel Road, it will offer luxury amenities including restaurants, a spa and theaters, a spiritual resource center, allowing Shepherd of the Hills Church, also a partner in the project, to continue its ministry at the location. Of the 11.5 acre lot, 7.2 acres will remain hillside open space, aid he developer.
Partner Marlon Fenton of Flintridge, said the $61 million development is "much needed in Laguna Niguel."
"We decided on Laguna Niguel because it is an area that definitely needs this type of facility for seniors," Fenton said. "For the last two months, we have conducted community outreach in Laguna Niguel and have received tremendous support-- about 1,000 people are in support of the project. One of our partners has been a resident for 26 years and we want to make this project succesful for everyone."
Prior to the meeting, the developer held a dinner/event for about 150 supporters. They were dropped off at City Hall via chartered bus to attend the Planning Commission meeting, Fenton said.
"We did it mostly out of convenience for the people because we didn't want to fill up the parking lot at City Hall," he said. "Plus, 150 is a lot of people."
Garcia said she felt "the whole thing was staged."
She and other residents who reside near the project have said they are concerned about the potential noise and traffic.
Dan Fox, community development director said in response to residents' concerns about the geological impacts of excavating at the foot of the hill to build a two-story subterranean parking garage, the commission has required developers to monitor any potential land movement on a weekly basis. Fenton said construction would not put hillside homes at risk.
Fox said additionally, the Commission limited commercial deliveries to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. He also said to allow for safe left turns out of the development, a traffic signal will be installed at its entrance on Niguel Road, southeast of Crown Valley Parkway.
"I felt very embarrassed that our city was targeted by this big developer by bringing a busload to take up almost all of the seats in the Council chambers," Garcia said.
She further said she was worried about potential traffic in the area.
"Even though there should not be heavy traffic in and out of this place, there still would be some elderly people turning in and out, causing traffic to back up onto Crown Valley Parkway, along with having a red light right there - that could really make traffic difficult," she said.
Garcia said she believes a smaller version might fit better in the city.
"The Planning Commission ultimately approved the project recognizing that this will be a quality development project that is probably one of the least traffic intensive developments that could be proposed for the site," Fox said. "The current commercial zoning could accommodate a wide variety of retail, restaurant, auto service and offices uses. The project does not propose to cut into the open space slope and construct large retaining walls as past approval have proposed, which was a previous concern from the surrounding residents."
Fenton said the project could be completed by 2014.
Seems to me that the idea of a Sr place like this is a good one, but, I agree w the other person about the location. Years ago I worked at that site & getting in & out onto Niguel Rd was a bit tricky. & putting a signal so close to Crown Valley is likely to mess up traffic flow unless it is coordinated.
They prey on elderly and their family's . Often they charge outrageous fees. I'm against
The commission required the monitors to appease the Geo concern expressed at the meeting by the neighbors, not because they believe that the hill will move. Perhaps you left before the end of the meeting, because your question was asked of the Geo engineer, and answered. The answer is that you fill in the hole or support the slope to stop the movement. People in general, do not understand that there are basically two types of Geo issues that we have in the area, deep and shallow. The deep ones are the ones that should concern you, underlaying landslides, fractures, poor compaction, improper benching etc.. To discover these, they have done many borings, and would have found them. The shallow issues, which are prevalent in the area are surficial slope failures, and expansive soil, neither of which are concerns for this project. (to be continued)
I have owned a home and have looked at homes in Pacesetter 1 and 2, and have many geo-reports for the soils in the tracts. The only issues that I remember are the two shallow ones, and the damage from these issues are localized, not an entire hillside. Expansive soil is the biggest issue for most home owners in that the elevation of the home can be raised and lowered by as much as 3/4 of an inch seasonally due to the changing of the soil moisture content. The home would rise when the soil is wet, and contract when dry. When this occurs differently around different parts of the home, you get the issue of differential settlement. Surfical slope failures occur in soil that is 3-4 feet deep on slopes that are too steep, ie, 1.5 to 1, and is caused by a lack of cohesion in the soil makeup which is exacerbated by moisture content. There are some slopes in the project area that are 1.5 to 1, and have been since the tract was built. During the project, these slopes will be re-graded to a 2 to 1 slope thereby mitigating the slope failure issue greatly for the homes directly above the project.
It has been my understanding the traffic to these facilities, like the one at Marina Hills, normally takes place later in the morning and is normally completed before 4:00pm. Many of the residence don’t drive themselves they either take a facility provided bus or OCTA mini bus. So, I personally welcome this type of facility. Time will tell if it impacts the left turn traffic on to Niguel Rd. My guess is that it won’t and after the facility is built most people won’t realize that it is there, not unlike those at Marina Hills and Golden Lantern.