Group forms to challenge Oakmont senior center, preserve ambiance of LCF
When a proposed 72-bed senior living facility at Foothill Boulevard at Woodleigh Lane came before the Planning Commission in January, commissioners requested more time to consider resident concerns about the project’s size and potential impact on views, traffic and parking.
Now, nearly two months later, with no news about when the matter could be heard again by the commission, neighbors opposed to the project have begun amassing support against it.
Calling themselves Together La Cañada (TLC), members of the 501(c)(4) nonprofit group say they want to advocate for responsible growth compatible with the Downtown Village Specific Plan, a document created in 2000 to guide development in the city’s Town Center along Foothill Boulevard, from La Cañada Boulevard to Crown Avenue.
“Oakmont is simply a symptom of the larger problem, which is we’re not adhering to the guidelines in our Downtown Village Specific Plan,” said Woodleigh Lane homeowner Michael Gross, who founded the group in February. “[Commissioners] are consistently issuing variances — do we have a set of rules, or do we not?”
Gross says TLC isn’t looking to run Oakmont out of town but rather to insist projects comply with city guidelines regarding parking, traffic flow and pedestrian safety and to call on city officials to uphold and enforce those guidelines. The facility as it’s currently proposed does not meet those standards, he adds.
So far, about 200 concerned citizens have shown support for the cause. Among them is attorney Steve Del Guercio, a former La Cañada mayor who helped oversee the adoption of the city’s general plan and was a planning commissioner when the DVSP was adopted.
Del Guercio said at the time the document was drafted, it was intended to provide developers insight into the community’s vision for the Town Center area. Among its many tenets is a restriction limiting buildings to two stories.
“The basic concept of keeping community development to a smaller, pedestrian-friendly scale is as valid today as it was back then,” he said, adding it would be a travesty if Oakmont’s 48-foot overall building height were approved.
Supporters of the project, including La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive Pat Anderson, say an in-town senior center would provide a housing solution for La Cañada seniors who can no longer stay in their homes.
“It’s so desperately needed to take care of those who need memory care and those who need assisted living but don’t want to leave the area,” Anderson said. “There’s no question in my mind it will help. That is the overriding reason we support this project.”
Anderson said she is waiting to see how the Planning Commission continues its review of the project and does not know whether a compromise on the size or scale of the project can be reached.
Gross said Together La Cañada would be willing to come together with city officials and Oakmont representatives to discuss possible solutions, despite past comments by the developer that a 72-bed facility was a threshold needed to make the project work.
He said the city should complete a full environmental review of the impacts and conduct its own traffic and parking studies.
“We want to play nice and find a good common ground,” Gross said. “We’d welcome a compromise, but ultimately, let’s look at it all — pedestrian safety, parking, traffic — and let’s do a real study.”
Del Guercio said he hoped banding together as TLC would give concerned residents a voice and the ear of decision makers in the community.
“My hope is we achieve a positive resolution,” he said.
For more information on Together La Cañada, visit the group on Facebook, call (818) 952-0123 or email togetherlaCañada@gmail.com.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
