Senoia approves elder care facility

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The Tranquil Village residential development for some of Senoia’s older citizens is a go. The City Council at the May 2 meeting heard the second reading on the proposal and voted unanimously to approve the project.

The proposal by Tranquil Village, LLC involved the rezoning of 7.34 acres on Coweta Street from R-40 (Residential) to IIR (In-town Infill Redevelopment).
The council voted unanimously in September to deed 7.34 acres on Coweta Street to the Senoia Downtown Development Authority to facilitate the upcoming contract for the project. The May 2 approval will result in the construction of the facility by Tranquil Village, LLC on the Coweta Street property previously surplused by the city.

The idea of creating the independent living center with elder care was in keeping with the council’s stated position that the property be used to develop a facility for the city’s growing elder population.

Tranquil Village, LLC representative Dan Barnes last month told council members that Senoia resident Angela Bloomfield created the idea for the facility as a way of giving back to the community.

“The location is perfect. It will be a unique facility for baby-boomers and for elderly care,” said Barnes, adding that physicians will be encouraged to essentially come to the facility and donate their time. “No facility in the country is doing this.”

A part of the agreement for Tranquil Village noted last year by the council involved the company either paying $5,000 per acre or constructing a building of similar value to be used as a meeting place by the Boy Scouts. Per that agreement, Barnes in April told the council that Tranquil Village intends to construct a 1,400 square-foot Boy Scout hut on the property.

The council in 2006 approved the Future Land Use Map that shows the Coweta Street property as an In-town Infill Redevelopment area.

City Administrator Richard Ferry in a previous letter to the council noted that the purpose of the IIR district is to foster redevelopment in and around historic downtown Senoia. As the town center is a finite space, varied residential development that is denser than development characterizing surrounding neighborhoods is encouraged, including multi-family, condominium, townhouse and loft development. For similar reasons, commercial intensification is also encouraged. The subject parcel is among those designated by the Future land Use Map as eligible for the IIR designation, Ferry said.