San Bernardino County supervisors approve 324-unit low-income senior mobile home park in Apple Valley area
The Avellana Senior Wellness Community passed 5-0 on Oct. 6 with a density bonus of 80 percent and its own solar, water and wastewater systems. Supervisors also acted on a Lake Arrowhead subdivision appeal.
San Bernardino County supervisors on Oct. 6 approved the Avellana Senior Wellness Community, a 324-unit mobile home park for older, lower-income residents at 24543 Las Piedras Road.
County records list the 44.92-acre site in the Apple Valley community. The vote was 5-0 after a hearing at which three people spoke, according to the clerk's record. Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. made the motion and Supervisor Curt Hagman seconded it.
The approval covers a planned development permit, a parcel map dividing 40.2 acres into four parcels plus a remainder, and a density bonus of 80 percent.
The bonus depends on the owner signing an agreement that limits every unit, other than manager housing, to older residents and lower-income households.
What would be built
The park would be built in three phases, according to the Land Use Services Department. Plans include four activity parks, a senior wellness complex, a convenience shop, an urgent care and first aid center, a swim and spa complex and a 750,000-gallon reclaimed water pond.
The community would run its own utilities: a packaged wastewater treatment plant, two 125,000-gallon water tanks and, on an added 4.72-acre parcel, a cooperative solar facility with a 2.5-megawatt array and 7.5 megawatts of backup batteries.
The staff report says all units would be set aside for households at or below 80 percent of the area's median income and for residents 55 and older, which qualifies the project for the 80 percent bonus. The board also approved a base density of four units per acre.
Supervisors denied the applicant's request to waive development impact fees as a density bonus concession. The Planning Commission, which recommended approval 4-0 on Aug. 6, had found that impact fees are money owed under separate law, not land use concessions, the report says.
Three people spoke against the project at that commission hearing, mostly about traffic, according to the report.
The project's mitigated negative declaration found that mitigation measures would bring potential effects on noise, hydrology, utilities, biological and cultural resources, and tribal cultural resources below the level of significance.
Lake Arrowhead appeal
In a separate hearing, the board took up a challenge to the Planning Commission's May 21 vote for Tentative Tract Map No. 20480. The map divides 15.95 acres between Sugar Pine Drive and North Bay Road into 37 lots for custom homes and one open space parcel.
The appellant asked for seven changes, including different construction routes, shorter work hours, concrete streets, matching fencing and a bond to cover road and gate repairs, the staff report says. Staff recommended denying the appeal and upholding the commission.
The board approved the item 5-0 on a motion by Hagman, seconded by Baca. The record lists the action as "approved as amended" but does not describe the amendment. No one spoke during that hearing.
