Many negatives to senior housing plan
The revised senior living facility proposed recently to the Wheaton City Council by Focus Development has negative consequences for Wheaton regarding quality of life, tax revenues and for local businesses.
Originally, residents and the city council were promised a very high quality of life for this development. Below are the excerpts of the city’s stated goals and objectives, which are not being met.
Neighborhood Character Goal: To ensure that existing and new developments reflect the high quality character of the city. Six objectives listed — including minimizing land use conflicts — but this proposed facility is a conflict of land use from residential to a commercial use.
Housing Goal: Maintain and expand the range of quality housing available to all residents of Wheaton. Fourteen objectives itemized, including creating a climate to encourage development of new quality housing for all income levels. Wheaton residents believe the Focus proposal would discourage such development.
Economic Goal: Maintain and diversify the existing economic base of the community. Seventeen objectives itemized — retail, restaurant and entertainment activities should be strengthened throughout the downtown. This proposal strongly falls short — especially because the expected senior residents would largely be confined to their therapeutic living units.
Transportation Goal: An efficient and safe transportation network. Three items, including encourage walking and enhancing safety. No amount of encouragement is likely to get many residents of the proposed assisted living and Alzheimer’s facility to walk around downtown Wheaton.
Community Resources: To support development and protect the investment of the residents and businesses. Two items include options for flood control. Rather than protecting investment, the proposed facility would degrade life in downtown Wheaton as well as be a very significant load on Wheaton utilities.
We believe that there are other development scenarios that are entirely residential.
Norman and Sharon Brockmeier
Wheaton