Memory Care Facility Moves Forward

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Last week, the Oro Valley Town Council unanimously approved a conditional use permit ("CUP") for a memory care facility to be built at Oracle and Desert Sky.  The facility will house elderly patients who suffer dementia.  It is an assisted living facility.  There is no designation for this type of facility in the Oro Valley code. Rather, the CUP was approved as a "skilled nursing facility" because, as town engineer David Williams noted: 'It looks like one from the outside."

 John Musolf, Oro Valley resident, had previously pointed out to council that is was anything but a skilled nursing facility.  He did it once again last week.

Resident Bill Adler observed that memory care is assisted living and that Oro Valley does not have assisted living in the code.

There is nothing in the Oro Valley codes that would approve a CUP for either a memory care facility or an assisted living facility because neither is defined in the Oro Valley code.  As Bill noted, these categories have been ignored in the past.  Adler notes that it is important for the code to be fixed so that: "When people want to apply for a use in Oro Valley...they know that Oro Valley knows what they are talking about. In this particular case, it is clear that theres' a gap."

The only item that the council discussed was the removal of an adjacent existing abutting wall.  The council amended the CUP to provide that this will be removed pending a letter from the abutting home onwers association that the developer be released from liability from doing such.
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Bits and Pieces

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As previously reported, Oro Valley Town Manager Greg Caton presented to council on Wednesday his recommended town budget for 2013-14.  You can view the document and his presentation to council on the town's website.
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Wednesday, on a 5-2 vote, the Oro Valley Town Council approved the an ordinance for the sale and consumption of liquor at Steam Pump Ranch.  Such is still banned from all other Oro Valley parks and venues.
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Tuesday, the Oro Valley Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit for the Memory Facility to be located on the southwest corner of Oracle and Desert Sky Rd.  We have previously reported this to to you.  The actual permit can only be approved by council.  During the hearing on the facility, resident Bill Adler observed that the facility can not be approved on the basis that it is a "skilled nursing facility." This is one of the categories for permitting a conditional use permit.  Bill noted that it is not skilled nursing facility.  Indeed, most of these facilities are staffed by medical aids.  We learned that Bill's concern is being considered by Oro Valley Development and Infrastructure Department and that they are planning to create a new category for this type of facility.
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Dollar Express has opened in the Oro Valley Marketplace. It is next to WalMart.
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The dates for the Oro Valley Friends Of The Library spring book sale are:

• Wednesday, April 10, 9 am – 7 pm Thursday, 
• April 11, 9 am – 7 pm 1/2 Price Sale begins at 3 pm! 
• Friday, April 12, 10 am – 5 pm 1/2 Price Day! 
• Saturday, April 13, 9 am – 5 pm $5.00 Bag Day

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Watch the dumbest crooks on the planet rob the self-serve car wash on Cool Drive.
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Drivers Beware: HiVE motorcycle police deployments this month will be on Oracle Road between Magee and Suffolk Drive.

• April 11, 2013 PM Deployment 4:00pm to 7:00pm. 
• April 29, 2013 AM Deployment 7:00am to 10:00am.

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Bits and Pieces

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The Town Of Oro Valley is soliciting construction bids for road resurfacing of the following locations: Rancho Vistoso NBH 10 Parcel O, Peppersauce Townhomes, West Glover Road, Kelly Rae, Rancho Vistoso NBH 10 Parcel K and L, Calle Buena Vista, Egleston Drive, Sun City Units 8, 9, 10, Hidden Springs Drive, Rams Canyon Phase 2, Rams Canyon Phase 3 and Rams Canyon Estates.   Estimated cost is from $500,000 to $1 million.(Source)
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A 65-bed, one-story, 27,000 square foot nursing care facility will like be constructed on the southwest corner of Oracle and Desert Sky.   The facility will house alzheimer and dementia patients. Residents will be "secured"in the facility.  The building will be 18' in height.  The public hearing on the facility was held in January.  Residents were concerned with traffic that might "cut through" their development (which is unlikely), smells from the cafeteria and the building of a common wall.  You should attend the Oro Valley Planning and Zoning Commission meeting next tuesday if you wish to opine on the facilities request for a conditional use permit.  Construction will begin once council has approved this permit.
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"Securaplane Technologies, Inc. a leading supplier of avionics products for business, commercial and military aircraft, announced its expansion to Oro Valley's Innovation Park in December 2012. A groundbreaking ceremony for the 55,000-square-foot building was held on Friday, March 29 near the northeast corner of Tangerine and Innovation Park Drive." (Source: Oro Valley Press Release)
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TREO with the help of County and State corporate welfare has attracted Accelerate Diagnostics to a location near Kino Sports Park.  The inducement:

"Under terms of its August 2012 lease and agreement with Pima County, which includes cut-rate rent through 2015, the company had 18 months to hire at least 30 people with a median salary of at least $70,000. And under a $1 million grant from the Arizona Commerce Authority, Accelerate must ramp up hiring to 65 jobs paying at least $63,000 a year and make capital investments of at least $4,520,000, according to regulatory filings."

The company's CEO was formerly with Ventana Medical Systems, here in Oro Valley. Too bad that TREO didn't steer the business to Oro Valley's Innovation Park.
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