Bloomington City Council gives green light to nursing home renovation

A controversial plan to renovate a Bloomington nursing home has won approval by the City Council despite opposition from neighbors who fear it is a precursor to plans to add a new senior apartment building on the same site.

Martin Luther Campus, which for 50 years has operated a skilled nursing facility for senior citizens near the bluffs of the Minnesota River on E. 100th Street, received permission Monday to replace the oldest part of its complex and to renovate the rest. A common area and office would be added to the 137-bed nursing home.

Neighbors have expressed concern about traffic, noise and the possible loss of part of a tree-lined berm that shields homes from the busiest part of the senior campus.

But in communications with council members, many also said they suspected that the renovation was being done to make room for a new 140-unit "catered living facility" for seniors. Martin Luther officials had openly discussed that project earlier this year, though it was never part of the proposal that went to the city.

Bill Griffith, an attorney representing the nursing home before the council on Monday night, said his client's priority is to replace nursing beds it already has. But he said he couldn't guarantee Martin Luther will never propose another new building.

"There is no commitment to bring that in the next six months or 12 months, [but] times can change. A couple years from now things can change," Griffith said. He added that in the current financial market, it was unlikely Martin Luther could have found financing for the project even if it wanted to propose it now.

Residents of E. 100th Street told the council that the nursing home brings heavy trucks and speeding employee traffic to their quiet neighborhood, which has no sidewalks. They told the council that they love the area for its proximity to the river and for the fox, deer and other wildlife they see. Homeowner Chris McPartlan, whose house faces the nursing home, presented a petition with 136 signatures opposing the development.

"I'm strongly opposed to this renovation," she said. "I bought [my house] for the phenomenal setting. ... The trees will be replaced by a driveway. I believe the value of my property will go down.

"How would you feel if this was your neighborhood, your equity and your home?"

Plan meets all requirements

But Martin Luther's renovation plan met all the city's requirements. Because it replaces rather than adds to existing nursing home beds, the project was granted an exception from the state's moratorium on new nursing home beds.

Martin Luther representatives also had met three times with neighbors and given the city seven different plans to try to overcome neighborhood reservations. The height of the new nursing buildings were cut from two stories to one, and the buildings were pushed 50 feet back from 100th Street instead of the 30 feet in the initial plans.

The plan passed on a 5-to-1 vote, with Council Member Steve Peterson, who represents the ward where Martin Luther is located, casting the sole "no" vote. The council resolution added the condition that trash collection be done behind the buildings and away from the rest of the neighborhood. And the exact location of a new service driveway has yet to be determined.

Only space left is near bluffs

As for the senior apartment building that was discussed earlier this year, Council Member Vern Wilcox said, "I don't think this council will pass that sort of project." Asked by Wilcox for his opinion, City Planner Londell Pease said he couldn't take a position on a project that hasn't been proposed to the city. But he pointed out that discussions over the Martin Luther proposal had pulled the project away from river bluffs that have been eroding for decades because of storm water that washes off the site. After its rebuilding, the only significant space Martin Luther will have left for development is near the bluffs, which rise above the sensitive waters of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

"There are areas that are still eroding," Pease told the council. "Putting something back there would totally take away from what makes this area great right now."

Martin Luther's renovation will add a storm water pond that should reduce bluff erosion by holding water on the site.

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380