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State Rejects 3-Tier Plan For Maloney Manor Site; Modified Plan in Works
BY CAROL ARNETT
Life Care Centers of America wants to place a senior center in Florissant, but it must first clear state hurdles to do so. The first attempt narrowly failed on Monday at the state Certificate of Need Commission meeting.
The company has purchased property on Parker Road that was formerly owned by a church and was the site of a previous attempt at a senior center, Maloney Manor. The company has torn down the church building.
Mayor Robert Lowery said that city officials and representatives from the company met with the state Certificate of Need Commission Monday about the senior center plan. The commission must approve new nursing homes in the state.
“This was a proposal for a three tier senior center,” Lowery said after the meeting with the commission. “We presented three hours of testimony on need,” Lowery said. “Their minds were already made up, and we lost 5-4.”
Lowery said the company and city would be resubmitting a modified version of the project. The defeated three tier plan would have been independent living, assisted living, and a nursing home. “If your spouse would move to the next level, you would still be together,” Lowery said. He said the city brought eight senior residents to the commission meeting. They testified that they wanted to remain in Florissant. The city and the company also presented their case that there is a need for a facility like this in the city.
Lowery said Life Care Centers of America runs over 100 facilities similar to the one proposed for Florissant. “They have state of the art facilities, with state of the art equipment,” Lowery said. “This would be a $40 million project,” Lowery said. “It will be a great fit for the neighborhood and enhance property values.”
Lowery called the commission’s approval only the first step in building the center. After the company modifies the proposal, it will return to the Certificate of Need Commission. Once a proposal is approved by the commission, the company would submit a plan to the city and go through the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
The Planning and Zoning Commission would hold public hearings on the project and then vote on it. The matter would then be taken up by the City Council, which would hold its own public hearing on the matter, and then vote to approve or deny the project.
