Proposal for assisted living facility draws fire from nearby residents

Plans to create an assisted living facility in a central Lawton neighborhood are going to the City Council without a recommendation from the City Planning Commission.

Commissioners were unable to agree on a course of action for property at 801-809 Pershing Drive, a now-empty commercial building at the corner of Ash Avenue and Pershing Drive in a neighborhood between Northwest Ferris and Liberty Lake. CPC Chairman David Denham, a long-time member of the commission, said it was the first time in his tenure that commissioners forwarded a rezoning request to the council without a recommendation.

Property owner Deborah Bell wants to rezone the R-1 Single-Family Dwelling District tract, giving it a less-restrictive R-3 Multi-Family District zoning. Her proposal would allow the structure to be converted into a residential assisted living facility for elderly residents, Bell’s sister Rhonda Bell Todd said. But the proposal is drawing opposition from surrounding residents, who attended Thursday’s CPC meeting after submitting a petition in opposition that represented 12 properties within 300 feet of the structure.

City planner Kameron Good said the applicant has no plans to change the exterior of the structure; all necessary renovations are taking place inside. Planners also said the existing parking lot is big enough to meet the needs of the proposed use.

Residents aren’t so certain and many oppose the idea.

“We feel this is going to impose on the character of the neighborhood,” said David Locke, who lives across the street, adding the area already has problems from those who walk through the neighborhood and from drivers who treat Pershing “as a drag strip from Cache Road.”

Locke said he also fears what could be done on a tract that holds R-3 zoning, telling commissioners “anything goes” if Bell doesn’t follow through with her plans, leaving a building with an R-3 zoning.

“Crime, noise, traffic is going to be worse,” he said.

But Good said Bell’s application comes with a binding site plan, meaning the only approved use for the building would be an assisted living center. Any significant changes to that plan, even by the applicant, must be approved by the commission and council, he said, meaning a new notification process and public hearings.

Delman Bloom said he knows the potential effect such a facility could have, because he has property in other parts of town with similar activities. That is not something he wants for his neighborhood, he said.

“We have enough walkers now, a lot of traffic,” he said. “I don’t think this is a very good idea, especially on the street I live on.”

Rhonda Bell Todd said the facility is being planned specifically as an assistant living center for elderly residents who may have mobility issues or other problems. She said the facility must be certified and permitted by state health officials, and that permit would allow no more than 20 people to live there at one time and also strictly controls activities there.

Deborah Bell, who has worked with elderly patients in two living facilities in Lawton, said her goal is a house-like setting for patients, with strict visiting hours like any other similar facility would have (probably 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.). In addition to residents, the facility would house nurses and aides who will staff the complex 24 hours a day.

Other supporters, addressing concerns about the effect on surrounding property, predicted property values would actually increase, courtesy of a facility being designed to help the elderly in a home-based setting. James Davis said those residents won’t cause problems, noting older people don’t bring crime; younger people do.

Commissioner Deborah Jones, a retired city planner, made the motion to recommend the rezoning with specific conditions, including a limit on the number of residents and a requirement to meet all state health codes pertaining to assisted living centers. Her action died for a lack of a second, as did commissioner Ron Jarvis’ motion to deny the rezoning. Denham said that means the proposal goes to the City Council without a recommendation.

“This body has chosen to not make a recommendation,” he said, adding property owners will be re-notified when the action goes to council, action expected in late August.