Construction began last week on a new 48-bed memory care facility on Sunrise Boulevard, with the completed project set to include a large courtyard and water features, along with protection for a 400-year-old oak tree identified on the property.
Located just north of Highland Avenue near the FoodMaxx shopping center, the new “Courte at Sunrise Oaks” memory care center plans to provide round-the-clock care for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s, according to Citrus Heights Planning Commission documents. The 32,000-square-feet facility will include a common dining and gathering space, as well as a fully functional kitchen for preparing and serving meals.
The 2.8-acre site project was approved by planning commissioners in January, with conditions including a requirement to install meandering sidewalks along Sunrise Boulevard and three new LED street lights. The project plans also include installation of an on-site water detention basin and the use of pervious concrete pavement in an 18-spot parking area, to address several neighbor concerns about drainage and flooding issues in the past.
Inch-for-inch replacement of 14 trees protected by the City’s tree ordinance is also a requirement detailed in the planning commission documents, with an alternative option to pay an “in-lieu mitigation fee” of $298 per inch of protected trees removed.
Although only a few resident concerns about traffic flow and drainage issues were raised by the current project, a previous proposal to build a 36-unit, two-story apartment complex on the site was opposed by neighbors and denied by planning commissioners in 1997, according to a January 28 agenda packet from the commission.
[Document: Jan. 28, 2015 Planning Commission Agenda Packet]
Citrus Heights Associate Planner Alison Bermudez said she had not not heard an estimated date for completion of the memory care center, but said building permits for the project had been picked up within the last two weeks.
Bermudez said another memory care center was also approved by the commission a few years ago on a vacant parcel on Sunrise Boulevard near Twin Oaks Avenue, but she said no action has been taken since then.