Council members Virginia Smith, Lloyd Shelton look at plans for a luxury senior residence. Photo courtesy of Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
The Mountain Brook City Council began its journey toward the city possibly being home to a luxury senior living facility.
Dana Hazen, the director of Planning, Building and Sustainability introduced the panel to the concept in its pre-council meeting and heard much more in the council meeting on Nov. 27.
Developer Al Worthington said the proposed planned unit (PUD) would be located at 2900 Cahaba Road, across the street and up the hill from the athletic field at Mountain Brook Elementary School. He said similar developments he’s done have been compared to a cruise ship experience for its residents.
Worthington described a facility that would range from roughly 65% independent living to about 15% assisted living to 15% for people dealing with dementia.
“This is the continuum of care so as your needs change, your health changes, you’re able to move to another unit in our building without having to change locations,” Worthington said. “We feel like we have focused on the needs and what they (residents) would want coming out of some of the homes in Mountain Brook.”
Graham Smith expressed concern about the way the tied structure will “loom” over the street below, rising four and five stories. Fire marshal Lee Rhudy said the developer had addressed 16 issues presented by the fire department but Fire Chief Chris J. Mullins noted that his department had not yet received if first responders would be provided access through the main parking garage.
Victor Hanson was one of two residents who spoke during the hearing. He cautioned the council to not presume that the absence of other residents was a statement that other residents don’t care.
Council President Virginia Smith assured that the council is aware that there is more interest. She repeated that the council did not intend to vote on the matter on Monday night.
Lloyd Shelton spoke about the cumulative effect of that project with other projects that are happening nearby. He acknowledged an email that council members received that made that point.
“There's so much going on now that I think somebody -- it's probably going to be with the city who's independent -- to project what this looks like once everything's done?” Shelton asked. “This one's (developer) is going to give us a study that's independent of this. We've got an independent study for Chester (Road). What happens if we overlap those two? What does that do? And you factor in (traffic round-abouts). Those are some significant changes. We need to be wise on this and not be in a hurry.”
The council will continue its discussion of the proposed project. The developer will address council questions before coming back for another public hearing, which would come on Jan. 8 at the earliest.
In other business, the council:
Approved a contract for six painted brick crosswalks in English Village.
Heard a presentation from Amanda Hood, the director of student services with Mountain Brook Schools, about the Gaggle student safety software for a crisis line.
Received the city’s 29th year Tree City USA and 21st Growth Award from the Board of Landscape Design.
Approved the conditional use application at 2701 Cahaba Road. The business there will use the second floor only. Billy Pritchard was initially concerned about the council not knowing how the first floor would be used. Pritchard said the first floor of the building will “sink or swim on its own” if a request for its use comes.
The next city council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11.
