SLO project could bring 570 homes for seniors, families — and traffic delays, report says
A San Luis Obispo housing development of about 570 homes off Los Osos Valley Road could come before the City Council in late spring 2020 for final approval.
The Froom Ranch proposal has multiple project components, including 404 senior living units in the Villaggio retirement community, including independent and assisted living.
Property owner John Madonna is also planning about 170 multifamily units, along with a 70,000-square foot hotel and 30,000 square feet of retail commercial space.
The development would be located on a 116-acre site located across from San Luis Obispo auto dealership row and next to Home Depot.
The public has a chance to review and comment on a nearly 1,100-page draft environmental impact report (EIR) until Dec. 23. The draft EIR breaks down potential impacts to San Luis Obispo traffic, air quality, views and wildlife and other concerns.
The Villaggio community would be for those 65 or older, with a variety of “continuing care services” for the latter stages of life. Those include memory care and skilled nursing.
The demand for Villaggio has garnered an interest list of 650 prospective residents, the vast majority currently living in SLO County, Villaggio representatives say.
“Residents have been waiting years for this option,” Villaggio board chairman Dennis Fernandez said in a statement. “And 90% of those come from right here on the Central Coast (42% interested are from the city of SLO).”
But the draft EIR cited potential “significant and unavoidable construction-related and long-term impacts to aesthetics, air quality, historic resources, biological resources, wildfire risks, and long-term transportation and traffic.”
San Luis Obispo-based Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions completed the voluminous report as part of the city’s development planning process, assessing two potential project alternatives.
The first proposal called for a portion of the Villaggio development to be 150 feet above sea level, on the hillside near Mountainbrook Church, with views overlooking the city.
But the developer has opted since to pursue building below that elevation line to expedite the planning and avoid potential impacts that include effects on views, said planner Victor Montgomery of RRM Design Group.
San Luis Obispo’s long-term land use policy prohibits building above the 150-foot elevation mark, unless a General Plan amendment is granted after city review, which the applicant could request.
“(The lower elevation alternative) is identified as the ‘environmentally superior alternative’ (not counting the no project alternative),” Montgomery wrote in an email. “The Froom Ranch project leaders (Villaggio and John Madonna) are ready to pursue and focus on that alternative. It reduces impacts.”
Froom Ranch project details
The Villaggio community would offer one and two bedroom homes between 700 and 2,000 square feet in size, including 366 independent living units and 38 assisted living units measuring 310 to 620 square feet in size.
Residences would be in three- and four-story buildings, limited to 50 feet in height.
An additional 51 beds would offer skilled nursing and memory care through the community’s health services.
Villaggio’s plan includes a health care center, movie theater, crafts center and fitness center on site.
While Villaggio costs are still being determined, an entrance fee to live there would be a minimum of $379,000.
Past entry fee cost projections ranged from $379,000 to $1.3 million depending on the home size.
Plus, there’s a monthly fee of $3,000 to $6,000 that covers services including food, utilities, transportation, entertainment, laundry and fitness — as well as on-site assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing should residents need it.
.jpg "Farmers Market Rendering_5-20-2017 (1).jpg")
A significant portion of the entry fee will be returned if the residents decide to leave or it will go to their estate if they die, Villagio representatives said. After the first year, 95% would be returned and 90% would be returned after the second year, with the amount maxing out at 75% refundable after five years.
Madonna’s proposed 174 multi-family homes with two and three bedrooms are envisioned for the portion of the property closest to Home Depot.
Of those homes, 130 would be considered medium-high density, with a maximum 20 units per net acre, and 44 high density, with a maximum of 24 units per net acre.
In addition, the proposal has between 42 and 48 affordable, deed-restricted housing units, Montgomery said, which would limit pricing to amounts based on a portion of people’s incomes under city affordable housing guidelines.
Several steps of advisory body review will lead up to a San Luis obispo City Council decision regarding final approval, including a Planning Commission meeting on Dec. 11.
Other proposed site plans include:
▪ Realignment and restoration of Froom Creek,
▪ A new stormwater basin,
▪ Installment of signals at the Los Osos Valley Road and Auto Park Way intersection,
▪ A new transit stop,
▪ A 2.9-acre park near Home Depot, and
▪ 59 acres of open space.
The project would include an internal network of public and private roads with some bicycle and pedestrian access.
Impacts include traffic, air quality
Among the consultant’s comments in the draft EIR were projected “delays and/or exceedance of intersection capacities, resulting in poor levels of service for automobiles, pedestrians and bicycle modes of transportation.”
Additionally, the draft EIR notes added greenhouse gases would “result in inconsistencies with adopted local and statewide policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and federally protected wetlands would be impacted.
The draft EIR also cited “substantial direct and indirect adverse impacts would occur to sensitive species, federally protected wetlands, and the movement of species along wildlife corridors.”
But Montgomery responded by saying that traffic would increase in general but at a much lower level compared to other potential projects with higher levels of multifamily and commercial building.
“The Villaggio portion of the project by its nature has relatively low traffic generation,” Montgomery said in an email.
“It is significant that the current waiting list for Villaggio is composed of roughly 90% local in SLO County and of that about 40 to 50% are existing city of SLO residents who are already using city streets.”
Montgomery said the proposed realignment of Froom Creek restores the site to its original pathway, after area farmers apparently re-routed the creek in past decades.
“We believe the restoration of Froom Creek will be a positive impact on biology — particularly by creation of a riparian corridor superior to the existing portion of Froom Creek located on site,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery said that the air quality standards are set “such that almost any significant project triggers adverse impacts.”
“In our case some impacts that are normally spread out over a period of 50 years have been compressed into 25 years,” Montgomery said. “Why? To provide some flexibility in the speed at which the project is implemented and avoid re-doing the EIR if the phasing changes or build-out is faster than we projected. However, based upon the (San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District) standards we will have impacts.”
‘Severe’ need for housing in SLO County
The Froom Ranch site currently is mostly undeveloped and used for horse grazing, as well as stormwater management. Structures include a few barns that would be preserved under the new development.
A permitted but inactive red rock quarry in the northwestern portion is used for construction.
Montgomery said he hopes the proposed park can be added to an area next to Home Depot, despite an EIR recommendation for it to be on the back end of the property, roughly behind Home Depot.
Villaggio cited San Luis Obispo Council of Governments data projecting those 70 and older in San Luis Obispo County will double from 31,500 in 2015 to 63,200 in 2035.
The need for housing isn’t mentioned in the draft EIR because it’s not considered an environmental issue, Montgomery said.
Villaggio’s ownership group consists of more than 30 different stakeholders, many of them who plan to live there.
“The need for all types of housing in our community is severe,” Montgomery said. “This project provides housing for our community and especially for seniors that are the fastest growing segment of the population.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 4:45 AM.
%20Cropped.jpg)