Taking steps for senior housing

Cheney’s Planning Commission voted 6-0 to approve a rezone of land near North 6th Street and Simpson Parkway that would allow the construction of new duplexes by the Cheney Care Center.

The rezone — if approved by the City Council — would change 4.94 acres of land from R-1 single family to R-2 two-family residential. The land and nearby parcels were annexed into the city in 1982 as single-family residential.

Cheney senior planner Brett Lucas told the commission that the project would involve construction of 12 duplexes, 24 units total, capable of providing housing for 48 seniors in the Cheney Care Center community. The project is similar to one adjacent to the property along North 6th Street known as Blackstone Estates.

Lucas said construction density in R-2 zoning is 9 units per acre, giving the Care Center the capability of construction 45 units at the site. The city projects the 48 residents living at the site upon full build out will generate an average of 10 vehicle trips per day per unit — 240 trips total, something Lucas said the area streets have the capacity to handle.

Lucas said the rezone and subsequent development meets several comprehensive plan criteria for meeting demands for local senior housing, quality housing for active seniors, safety and well-being and contributing to a wide range of housing in the city. Furthermore the proposed landscaping requirements are compatible with the neighborhood.

Care Center Chief Executive Officer Keith Fauerso said the development was proposed in 2002, but a plat was not filed until 2012 when the first six duplexes at Blackstone were built. The project developer, Gordon Finch, is also looking at the possibility of going ahead with a second phase of the Parkside Addition on land to the east of the proposed rezone, a project that would also include the extension of Annie Place.

Fauerso said the proposed duplexes would be more spread out than the ones at Blackstone, but would have many of the same amenities and features: 1,540 square foot units with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two car garages, skylights, no steps, appliances and granite countertops. Cheney Care Center would take care of much of the property maintenance, including snow removal.

“We’ll probably have to hire more staff,” Fauerso said. “I don’t see this as being built all at once. It will probably be phased in.”

Fauerso said they currently have five local couples interested in moving into the proposed duplexes, which would be for middle to high-income seniors.

“That’s the reason for the interest in the rezone,” he said.

While receptive to the concept of duplexes, several planning commission members questioned what seemed to be an incomplete proposal for access to the property. Currently, a new street would access the property off of Simpson Parkway to the north while a second point would include the extension of the access to Blackstone off of North 6th Street.

“The plat hasn’t come in yet so we haven’t sorted that out,” Lucas said.

“I see this as a great opportunity to provide for all the people, not just students, not just families but for those who have been here 50 years and helped build the city,” Commissioner Rick Mount said.

Besides the property owned by Finch to the east, other area owners include the Upper Columbia River Academy which owns 2.78 acres on the corner of North 6th Street and Simpson Parkway and Jordan J. Hillis, who owns 0.7 acres between the Care Center’s two parcels.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.