WILLMAR -- A conditional use permit for a senior housing project that was tabled four times for lack of information was approved Wednesday night by the Willmar Planning Commission.
Developers known as Welcome to Our Home of Buffalo Lake had applied in August for a conditional use permit to build a senior housing project in an area zoned R-2 for twin homes and located near the intersection of First Street North and 15th Avenue Northwest.
City zoning ordinance requires a conditional use permit be approved for senior housing projects proposed in an R-2 zone. The ordinance does not specify a size limitation.
The developers initially proposed constructing 99 units, but scaled back the project to 76 units after the size of the project became an issue.
The project was tabled four times for a number of reasons that included insufficient city staff time to review the plans and, later, insufficient staff time to review project changes requested by the Planning Commission.
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One item remained to be reviewed by city staff: calculations for handling storm water runoff from the project.
Bruce Peterson, director of planning and development, said the calculations were not reviewed because the engineering department has been short staffed.
The assistant city engineer who handles storm water reviews resigned in July and the engineering technician had resigned in September.
After some discussion, the commission approved the conditional use permit with the condition that the storm water calculations be reviewed before the city issues a building permit for the project.
Commission member Michael Morris thanked the developers for cooperating with the planning process during the last several months. He said the process had been somewhat arduous.
"But we tried to be extremely careful and I think the owner-developer has been quite flexible in meeting some of the recommendations for changing improvement of the project, so ultimately we ended up with a better project than we started,'' said Morris.
Dean Bloemke, project secretary-treasurer, said he was excited about the commission's approval. He said the project would move forward as soon as the storm water calculations can be covered.
"I think we've done our tasks and we're excited to get going,'' he said.
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Dale Tauer, chief manager, said he's glad the commission acted. The project will have 55 units of housing with services, 20 units of memory care and 1 care suite.
The developers said construction will begin as soon as possible.
Commission Chair Audrey Nelsen said she wanted to make sure "all the I's were dotted and the T's were crossed'' during the process, and that the storm water calculations would be taken care of.
"I'm pleased for them that it's finished and that we can move forward with it,'' she said.
