Planning commission tells proposed assisted living facility to downsize
–At Tuesday night’s Paso Robles Planning Commission meeting, the commission voted to send back plans for a new assisted living facility to the applicant for redrafting. The commission, along with members of the public, felt that the project had massing issues, among other concerns.
The commission voted 5-1 to send the plans back to the applicant to look into reducing the size of the structure, as well as looking at safety concerns and a proposal to change the distance of the setbacks to be closer to South River Road.
The applicant had proposed to construct a three-story, 68,000-square-foot assisted living project, which would include 73 assisted living and 24 memory care units, and ancillary support uses. The commission felt that a two-story structure, or a partial third story, might be a better fit; the 39-foot tall building would have been the tallest in the area.
Commission Chairman Vince Vanderlip was the one dissenting vote, saying that he didn’t have issues with the setbacks, but did have sizing concerns. He said that the safety issues should probably also be addressed.
“We heard a lot of concerns from the public that the facility was too large,” said Vanderlip, “…although the project was well received.” Vanderlip said that the sizing issue had mainly to do with aesthetics.
The commission offered to have the applicant re-draft the proposal and bring it back for consideration at the next meeting, but according to Vanderlip, the applicant felt that it was too soon and said that they will return at a later time yet to be determined.
