Minutes 03/10/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 1998 Council's next item for consideration was the need to hold a Public Heating on a request by Liberty Healthcare, owner of the Blue Ridge Rehabilitation Center, for extension of its Special Use Permit to construct 40 villas for independent living on a 6.638-acre parcel currently zoned C-3 Commercial. Mr. Wayne Knox, Planning, Zoning, and Housing Manager for the City presented the history of the project in question, and then introduced Mr. W. Andrew Dickinson, CEO of the Blue Ridge Rehab Center and Liberty Healthcare. Mr. Dickinson gave a brief description of the proposed project and noted that it was identical to that which had been approved under the prior Special Use Permit which had expired. He noted that the request of Council at this time was for the grant of a new Special Use Permit, not an extension of the old one, and also noted that the Planning Commission had recommended approval of the new Permit. Council Member Teague asked whether all adjacent property owners had been notified and was told by City staff that they had been. Mr. Knox noted that the Planning Commission had recommended approval contingent upon construction beginning within the current year, that total build out would take two to three years, and that the discussion regarding a possible future need for a traffic light near the entrance of the facility had resulted in a recommendation that it be placed at Salmon Street, if needed. Mr. Dickinson stated that the proposal and project before the Council was identical to that which they had approved one year before, that financing problems had delayed the original schedule, and that all these problems had been entirely resolved. He emphasized that his company was fully prepared to move ahead on construction of the project at this time. Mr. Dickinson then went on to describe some of the details of the project in terms of resident capacity, nature of the components of the facility, target market for residential candidates, marketing plans, and the fact that there would be about 50 new jobs added to the current 300 in place now. Council Member Haskell asked if the company had sufficient resources to complete Phases II and if Phase I was successful, and Mr. Dickinson assured her that the financial resources were in place to follow through on the entire project. Ms. Haskell then asked if additional permits would be needed for subsequent phases, and was told that the Permit requested would be all that was needed as long as the construction process continues to progress. Mr. Dickinson stated that their plan was to begin construction in