Bloomington's OK for senior project dismays neighbors

A controversial senior housing development that will occupy 6 acres of now-open land in a tightly developed part of Bloomington was unanimously approved Monday night by the City Council.

The council action ends months of debate over the proposal to allow a senior co-op to be built on land now owned by Southtown Baptist Church at 2600 W. 82nd St. The church, which wanted to partly finance an expansion by selling the land to United Properties for a new Applewood Pointe senior co-op development, has owned the green field and its big trees for 50 years.

The church's pastor, Stan McFall, was elated. The church will keep roughly 4 acres of land and remodel its building, adding a new sanctuary and a bigger fellowship hall.

The city's decision is "huge," McFall said. "It gives us an opportunity to have a dream come true. We could never have done this on our own ... . It's what we need to keep growing and expanding."

Brian Pahos, a homeowner whose back yard on Thomas Avenue abuts church property, said the neighborhood's nearly yearlong fight against the development had left people drained and feeling cynical.

"We feel very powerless," he said. "Our city leaders do not reflect the wants and needs of the people who live in the neighborhood ... . We are very, very disappointed."

Before the vote, council members said they thought United Properties had done a good job in redesigning the building to answer neighborhood concerns. Some council members said the senior development likely will bring less traffic than a townhouse or single-family development. They also cited the city's pressing need for housing that serves an aging population.

Initial designs from United Properties placed the development on the property's western edge, directly behind residential back yards on Thomas. The approved design shifts the building to the property's eastern edge, away from most homeowners.

Plans for several storm-water ponds were consolidated to one near the center of the senior development, partly because neighbors were concerned about children wandering into the water. The developer said it had positioned the 104-unit building in a way to preserve most of the big oaks and elms in the area, and staggered the building's height so it will reach its full four stories toward the center of the structure.

But neighbors, who live mostly in single-story ramblers in a quiet residential area near Penn Avenue and I-494, said the development was a giant that would loom over adjoining properties. They worried it would bring heavy traffic to the area and that construction would kill the big trees.

Homeowner Kirsten Vaage began her testimony before the council by singing a verse of Sesame Street's "one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong" song.

"The scope is too big," she said. "Four stories doesn't mix with single story ... . The high rise doesn't belong with the surroundings, and it doesn't differ just a little. The difference is stark."

But Harland Erickson told the council that he and his wife had been looking for something like Applewood Pointe. A resident of Bloomington for more than 45 years, Erickson said he was no longer interested in climbing stairs or caring for a big yard.

"When this project came up, I was very excited about it," he said. "It's something we've been thinking about for a long time ... . We want to stay in Bloomington; it's our hometown.

"This is very nice for people like me."

United Properties' Mark Nelson said 94 people had already put $500 down to reserve a unit in the new development.

"Sixty percent or better of them are Bloomington residents, and others are people who want to move back," he said. "It's really quite amazing."