Letters to the Editor: As is, Oakmont Senior Living proposal isn’t right fit for city

I agree with people who say La Cañada Flintridge needs a well-thought out senior living facility. But Oakmont Senior Living’s proposed behemoth, 78,000-plus-square-foot facility, with 100-plus people on site daily, serviced by central suppliers, and not our local businesses and vendors, is not such a proposal.

There is nothing on the record that any current or former local resident will have preferential access to any of the 72 beds in the three-story building.

The Woodleigh Lane/Foothill Boulevard intersection (with ARCO, the Thursday Club, First Church of Christ, Scientist, the Chevron station and post office) has already seen at least one fatal accident. Following the construction period, the Oakmont assisted living building will house 72 beds (full-time residents), the 30-plus staff during the day. The family members, visitors, vendors and suppliers will result in more traffic at that already challenging intersection.

Without room to turnaround, large trucks (trash, linen, food, etc.) will be backing into (or out of) that single driveway off Woodleigh nearly every day. It will not take those commercial drivers long to realize that traveling down Woodleigh, and using a cross street south of Foothill (Georgian Road or Berkshire Avenue) to eventually gain 210 Freeway access will be easier than getting stuck on Foothill.

There is not a NIMBY response to the concept. If Oakmont was suggesting a 24-bed, one- or two-story building, it would not require so many variances, and it would be more aligned to the city’s general plan, its Downtown Specific Village Plan and the aesthetic of La Cañada Flintridge.

Rora Melendy

La Crescenta