by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
Residents near a senior housing development objected to the height of the three-story, 40,000-square-foot building in Graceview Estates at a July 18 meeting of the St. Joseph City Council.
But the city council voted 3-2 to give the green light to Tom Opatz of Watkins, owner and developer of the Fortitude Senior Living project, which consists of a 47-unit apartment building with three detached garages located west of Seventh Avenue SE and Dale Street E.
“This building doesn’t fit our neighborhood,” said Len Bechtold, who lives on Seventh Avenue SE and supported a two-story plan rather than a three-story plan. “It’s the tallest and the largest building south of Minnesota Street other than St. Ben’s or the church that’s here.”
The developer held two neighborhood meetings, and the placement and the height of the apartment building and future development on the north portion of the property were discussed. By a show of hands at the second meeting, most approved of the three-story plan, according to city officials.
“That’s a very misleading statement,” Bechtold said. “They were not given the question ‘Do you prefer a three-story or a two-story (building)?’ Had that been the question, I believe we would have had a very, very different answer than what we got now.”
Bechtold submitted to the city council a letter written by him with nine signatures of neighbors next to the construction site who objected to the three-story plan for the Fortitude Senior Living project while the Graceview Homeowners Association submitted a letter with 13 signatures.
“There is unanimous opposition to a three-story apartment building,” Bechtold told the city council. “The mayor (who lives in the neighborhood) wasn’t asked to sign the letter because we felt he would have a conflict of interest.”
The proposed facility would be limited to those 65 and older, according to the application for subdivision review submitted April 18 to the City of St. Joseph.
“Our project will be staffed 24/7 and will bring services to the residents living in the building to allow them to age in place. The project will be developed to compliment surrounding properties and meets the need of the city,” according to the application by Opatz.
“With this entire project here, the developer’s concerns are primarily economic and financial,” Bechtold told the city council. “The concerns of the neighbors is that this is our home, this is where we live, this is our neighborhood.”
Opatz was at the meeting and said a three-story building is less expensive to construct and would be more accessible for seniors with mobility issues. He also told the council if approval was not given, he would look to surrounding cities like Waite Park to build his senior-housing project.
“I built a new home here about five years ago, a retirement home,” Bechtold told the city council. “I intend to spend the rest of my life here. Whatever is built here, I’m going to have to look at it for the rest of my life, every day, so please, I ask no three-story building.”
Gary Kraft, who lives along Graceview Drive, also spoke to the city council about the Fortitude Senior Living project during the public comments portion of the July 18 meeting.
“I am not opposed to the senior housing project as such, but I do have some concerns,” Kraft said. “I do feel along with Len and several others that to allow a three-story structure in this established, residential neighborhood with single-family homes to the east and south . . . would be a mistake.”
Weyrens said, however, senior housing has been long requested by St. Joseph residents, many of whom support the Fortitude Senior Living project because of seniors migrating to surrounding cities like St. Cloud that have such housing.
Country Manor Campus, GLTA Architects and Alliance Building Corp. gave a presentation to the planning commission on April 11 about a proposed facility by Country Manor, which would locate the new facility along CR 121, west of Kennedy Community School.
That project would include 60 independent living units and 24 units for memory care, and stores and services such as a beauty shop and spa, a general store with an in-house coffee shop, a convenience store, a chapel, a bistro, outpatient rehabilitation and underground parking.
According to Weyrens, construction for the Country Manor facility, which will cost an estimated $14 million to $16 million, could start this summer after public hearings and an environmental review by the St. Joseph City Council.
The Fortitude Senior Living project consists of a 47-unit apartment building with three detached garages located west of Seventh Avenue SE and Dale Street E. The three-story, 40,000-square-foot building proposed for Graceview Estates in St. Joseph was given the green light by the St. Joseph City Council at its July 18 meeting.
Len Bechtold, who lives along Seventh Avenue SE, reaches for his notes during a July 18 city council meeting about the Fortitude Senior Living housing project proposed by Tom Opatz of Watkins, the owner and developer of the 47-unit facility in St. Joseph while Gary Kraft, who lives along Graceview Drive, sits near Bechtold.
Len Bechtold, who lives on Seventh Avenue SE, talks to the Joseph City Council at its July 18 meeting about the Fortitude Senior Living project during the public-comments portion and expresses his preference for a two-story versus a three-story apartment building in his neighborhood.
Len Bechtold, who lives on Seventh Avenue SE, looks at a map during a July 18 city council meeting while talking about the Fortitude Senior Living housing project proposed by Tom Opatz of Watkins, the owner and developer of the 47-unit facility in St. Joseph.
Gary Kraft of Graceview Drive adjusts the microphone before speaking to the St. Joseph City Council at its July 18 meeting about the Fortitude Senior Living project during the public-comments portion and expresses his preference for a two-story versus a three-story apartment building in his neighborhood.
Tom Opatz, owner and developer of the Fortitude Senior Living project in St. Joseph, adjusts the microphone before addressing the St. Joseph City Council at its July 18 meeting about the Fortitude Senior Living project located west of Seventh Avenue SE and Dale Street E.
Tom Opatz, owner and developer of the Fortitude Senior Living project in St. Joseph, looks at a map during a July 18 city council meeting while talking about the 47-unit apartment building for seniors and where the 40,000-square-foot building would be located in St. Joseph.
During the July 18 city council meeting, Tom Opatz, owner and developer of the Fortitude Senior Living project in St. Joseph, points out on a map the general area where the 47-unit apartment building for seniors would be located in St. Joseph.
