The Town Council showed no apprehension in giving its unanimous approval to the plan for the Morningstar assisted living facility at its June 18 regular session.

There were several items on the agenda related to land use and zoning the council needed to approve to allow the project could go forward. Each was endorsed without dissent.

In fact, the council agreed to delete two stipulations included by staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission that the developer disagreed with. The developer had wanted to shorten parking spaces by two feet, from 19 to 17 feet to allow more space for landscaping. While staff and P&Z opposed the change the council agreed to it.

Also, staff had asked that there be four dumpster containers for the assisted living facility but the developer says a single, larger container is adequate for the use.

Town Senior Planner Bob Rodgers said the regulations that require the additional dumpsters are based on square footage only and do not consider use of the structure. He said the decision to require the additional containers was based solely on the size requirement.

The council agreed with the developer that the assisted living would probably not generate the same amount of waste as a similar sized apartment or condo complex.

Staff had also taken the position that the assisted living is inconsistent with the Downtown Area Specific Plan adopted by the town in 2009. Vice Mayor Dennis Brown produced a letter from individuals working with Swaback Partners, the firm that created the Downtown Vision Plan. Brown said that letter states firm support for the Morningstar project and its consistency with the plan.

Brown indicated that the developer had asked Swaback for its opinion.

Councilman Henry Leger said there is a lot of passion from both those who support and oppose the plan, and he appreciates that. Leger noted that the town has been working for years to come up with a workable development plan for downtown.

“The main theme of the Swaback vision is mixed use in the downtown,” Leger said.

He said the zoning for the site requires a special use permit for assisted living, however, there are many uses that are much more intense that are permitted by right.

Leger noted that the maximum building height is 48 feet, while staff indicated that the Morningstar structure has a maximum height barely over 31 feet.

Leger said allowable uses in the zoning district with no council consideration include amusement arcades, child care, furniture stores, hotels and private schools.

“There are many more intense uses allowed without the special use permit,” Leger said. “The special use permit is a commonly used tool in development.”

Mayor Linda Kavanagh said a concern she had related to the need for such a facility in Fountain Hills. Kavanagh said staff was asked to survey Fountain View Village, the major assisted and independent living facility in Fountain Hills.

Kavanagh said the results of their query to FVV indicate they are 85 to 95 percent occupied. She said the residents there are also mostly Fountain Hills residents who have moved out of homes here to have the additional care, or they are relatives of Fountain Hills residents who moved to FVV to be near family.

Kavanagh said she is satisfied the additional facilities are needed.

David Bickler, M.D. told the council there are 12 licensed assisted living facilities in Fountain Hills, but he also raised additional concerns that he has about the Morningstar plan.

Bickler said the town should be wary that memory care patients, with dementia and Alzheimer’s, may wander away from the facility and its proximity to Fountain Park and the lake should be a red flag for the town.

“Drowning is a significant cause of death among such patients,” Bickler said. “This is a very real possibility with the lake only half a mile away. The liability should be enough for the council to re-think this.”

Councilman Alan Magazine admits he has concerns about the project.

“All things being equal I would probably not support this,” Magazine said. “We are not living in an ideal world and turning this down would be a real roll of the dice.

“I know this is not supposed to be about Park Place (along the Avenue of the Fountains) but I believe if this is not approved the developer will walk away from Park Place.”

The items approved by the council to accommodate the development include a minor general plan amendment that allows assisted living as a permitted use in the South End District of the Downtown Area Specific Plan.

Those include a minor General Plan amendment that would increase the maximum residential density in the Town Center area from 12 dwelling units per acre to 28 units per acre.

An ordinance text amendment that changes the Zoning Ordinance to reduce the minimum lot size required for a PAD from five acres to three acres in the downtown area.

Also approved is rezoning of 3.3 acres from the TCCD zoning district to the Morningstar PAD.

The developer has indicated they would like to start the project as soon as possible, however, there is still a building plan review before permits are issued.