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An overview of the site plan for the proposed eight-acre senior living development on Hilltop. Image courtesy of Senior Traditions |
CommentsSenior Community Proposed for Hilltop Area
Pollard Station would feature care options for elderly population
Published: December 29, 2009 * Web Exclusive *by Olivia Dwyer
A rendering of what the condominiums for active seniors would look like. Image courtesy of Senior Traditions
The plan for the first floor of the proposed lodge, which would offer three different living options for seniors. Image courtesy of Senior Traditions
Click on images for slideshow
* Update 1/8/10:
The Pollard Station development will be the subject of the next Town of Truckee Planning Commission on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall on Airport Road. This meeting is open to the public. Zoning changes to the Hilltop area and discrepancies between the Hilltop Master Plan and the Pollard Station proposal will be discussed at this time.
Donner Pass Road and Bridge Street intersect in the heart of Truckee, and from this crossroads it is possible to look to the south and see a neon red sign that spells out “Hilltop Lodge” peeking through the trees above. Behind this sign is an 8-acre area where FNC Communities hopes to build a senior living community called Pollard Station.
FNC is tentatively scheduled to go before the Truckee Planning Commission on Jan. 13. At this meeting, FNC would apply for a change in zoning to the eight-acre area in question on Hilltop, as well as address certain aspects in which the proposed buildings differ from the Town of Truckee’s Hilltop Master Plan.
While gaining approval from the town’s government is traditionally a lengthy process, FNC’s timeline is to begin construction in June 2010 and open the community to residents in 2012. Pollard Station would serve the senior population of the Truckee and North Tahoe area. With a hospital in town, shopping close by and town center a short distance away, FNC found that Hilltop met the majority of industry criteria for a location suited for senior living.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of the population of Nevada County is over the age of 65. In comparison, seniors make up on only 11.2 of California’s population as a whole.
“Nevada County has one of the oldest populations in the state and there’s nothing for assisted living between Reno and Grass Valley,” said Bob Cook of FNC. “There is nothing in the [Tahoe Forest] hospital’s primary market area.”
While the demographics suggest a need for a senior facility, another Hilltop Property owner expressed reservations about the project.
“There are some major deviations that are non-conforming to the [Hilltop] Master Plan and design guidelines that have been adopted by the Town Council,” said Allen Radford, the owner of 70 acres on Hilltop, including the Cottonwood Restaurant. “There are major deviations that have to be really ferreted out by the Planning Commission.”
Radford pointed out that the proposed development departs from plans for infrastructure modifications. The Pollard Station proposal also includes buildings taller than the height restrictions in the Master Plan.
FNC has been working with Senior Traditions, a Reno consulting firm, to do market research and facilitate community outreach during the planning process.
“This project is now over a year in the making,” said Phil Shapiro, a member of the senior management team at Senior Traditions. “There’s been substantive amount of marketing research, both quantitative in terms of studying demographics and also qualitative in the form of three different surveys that were launched last spring into the marketplace. … There is a great population of seniors, and a great population of what we call adult children, who have [elderly] parents that live outside the market.”
Truckee Donner Senior Apartments, located about a mile from the proposed site of Pollard Station, is the only senior living area in Truckee at this time, serving about 60 low-income seniors. The waiting period for seniors to move into this apartment complex is roughly two years.
On December 14, a community workshop to answer questions about the project took place at the Truckee Donner Public Utility District. Cook and Shapiro attended, as well as Truckee councilmember Barbara Green and about 25 members of the community.
“Actually, the bulk of the response was focused on people’s interest in the community and the product. They identified with it immediately,” Shapiro said of the workshop.
Green, who has lived in Truckee since 1994 and served on the Town Council since 2004, has been involved since the conception of the project.
“I knew at the time that there was a long waiting list for our senior center and that there are a lot of people aging, obviously, and there are a lot of people in Truckee with aging parents,” Green said. “I could see such a need in Truckee for a facility like this that I told FNC that Truckee really needs this, and it will need it more.”
Pollard Station would offer “a continuum of housing and care options,” according to Shapiro. There will be 54 condominiums for active adults distributed in six to eight buildings. Each condo will offer 2 to 3 bedrooms and 1,200 to 1,400 square feet in a single level unit, with a garage on the first floor and an elevator in the central core of each building.
The second component of Pollard Station is a larger building Shapiro referred to as ‘the lodge,’ which would offer three different living environments. An option for individual apartments, each with 1 to 2 bedrooms and 800 to 900 square feet in area, will offer residents a package that Shapiro described as akin to a cruise ship, where one fee will cover lodging, dining programs, recreation, housekeeping, and other services. The second option would be assisted living facilities, where a 24-unit apartment building will be designed to accommodate residents with physical mobility limitations. This area is designed to help seniors maintain a level of independence while also providing assistance with dressing, eating, and bathing. The assisted living area would also offer personal care support services and a medication management program.
The final aspect of the lodge would be a dedicated memory care center with 12 units featuring residential apartments in a safe and secure environment for seniors with early-stage Alzheimer’s and dementia, which Shapiro described as “completely designed for dignity.”
“One of the features of the whole community is the addition of universal design,” Shapiro said. “Universal design is a field of architecture that focuses on ergonomics and adapting to seniors as we age.”
Aspects of universal design include non-skid floors and the absence of doorway thresholds, among other considerations. Pollard Station would also have two restaurant options, classrooms for continuing education and transport services to help seniors move around town.
Sarah Deardorff, the executive director of Sierra Senior Services, currently works with the local senior population and is happy to see their needs being addressed.
“In general, [seniors] tend to be overlooked as members of society. Anything that brings them attention is a positive thing,” she said.
Deardorff attended the meeting on Dec. 14 and pointed out the memory care center as a positive aspect of the project.
“As far as dementia, when people have this need [they] have to leave this area completely,” she said. “They are addressing some needs that are out there. … The past projects [FNC has] done are gorgeous.”
For Green, whose age puts her in the targeted demographic, Pollard Station holds a definite appeal for those in her peer group.
“We love living in Truckee — we moved here because we love it,” Green said. “[Pollard Station] is a chance for a feeling of community. … The feeling of knowing that there’s somebody to help if you’re not able to do things that you did when you were 20 years younger, and the feeling that there’s people your age to socialize with and do activities with is really positive.”
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