Blu Line Conceptual Design - January 2015

I apologize for delay in getting these notes out. The drawings presented by Blu Line at the Planning Commission were different from what they had provided to the city for the Planning Commission packet. We just received the updated drawings yesterday and I wanted to make sure the correct information was being shared with residents.

The entire building does now sit within the mixed use office/retail zone of the commercial area, which allows for assisted living centers. During a previous City Council meeting, the majority of the Council made a determination that congregate care could be viewed as substantially the same as assisted living, so a congregate care facility is now allowed to be built in that zone. There is a portion of shared parking (168 stalls) that remains in the neighborhood retail portion of the commercial zone, though Blu Line indicated that parking was not needed for the facility but would be used mainly as visitor parking. There are 297 parking stalls around the building for resident parking with approximately 300 residential units. There is a 10,000 square foot commercial building planned for the northwest corner of the property.

The main entrance of the building now faces east, almost directly across from the entrance to The Charleston. When it faced Cedar Hills Drive it was a right in, right out access, which could be an issue for emergency vehicles as they would have to come in from a different street to get access if coming from the Cedar Hills fire station. Having the main entrance on 4600 West allows for better and faster access for emergency vehicles.

The building is approximately 100 feet from the property of residents to the south of the facility. The façade to the south is broken up so that it isn’t a long, continuous building. There is a main courtyard in the center of the building and there are several corridors throughout the building that go into the interior courtyard for emergency access. The height of the building is 35 feet to the midpoint of the roofline.

The Planning Commission gave great feedback. According to the design guidelines, this portion of the commercial zone is intended to accommodate less intense uses than the neighborhood retail portion and this may be a concern with residents. Being that it was determined to be substantially the same as an assisted living center, the facility should include some of the same services such as housekeeping, onsite eating facility, medical services, etc., otherwise it would just be 55+ housing unit. Blu Line indicated that these services can be provided by outside entities but made note of some of the items given by the Planning Commission, which comes from the Utah State Code on assisted living facilities. There were also some questions on HOPA laws (Housing for Older Persons Act) and how those laws apply to this building. Blu Line will do some additional research.

The next step will be for Blu Line to present preliminary plans to the Planning Commission, which will include much more detail of the facility. As always, resident input and feedback throughout this process is very helpful.

Additional information on city code and prior plans for this facility can be found on CM Zappala's blog at cedarhillsblog.org