Development on Muckelemi Street would provide independent and
assisted-living options if approved
A more-than-100-unit independent and assisted living project is
proposed on vacant lots near the northwestern entrance to San Juan
Bautista.
Plans for Villa San Juan, a 103-unit development on Muckelemi
Street, across the street from San Juan Foothill Pottery and the
Valero gas station, came before the city’s Historic Resources Board
and Planning Commission this week for conceptual review.
Development on Muckelemi Street would provide independent and assisted-living options if approved
A more-than-100-unit independent and assisted living project is proposed on vacant lots near the northwestern entrance to San Juan Bautista.
Plans for Villa San Juan, a 103-unit development on Muckelemi Street, across the street from San Juan Foothill Pottery and the Valero gas station, came before the city’s Historic Resources Board and Planning Commission this week for conceptual review.
Such a review is designed to provide the developer with direction on how the project should be modified or changed to conform to the city’s general plan. The applicant can then decide whether to pursue the project by filing a formal application with the planning department.
The development’s two parcels are owned by the Manning Family Trust and encompass nearly three and a half acres. More than 80 percent of the units are labeled as “studio” and 10 are “double occupancy,” according to a city report. Villa San Juan would also have a health and recreation center for tenants.
San Juan planning staff said that while an assisted living community would not be practical in the city’s downtown because of its space and parking needs, it would be suitable on the lots along Muckelemi Street, where multi-unit housing already exists.
The city’s report on the proposed project encourages the developer to keep in mind San Juan’s “small town character” when considering the mass and scale of the housing units.
“The preservation and enhancement of this character should be a primary consideration of any development proposal,” the report states, noting that the Monterey-style architecture of Villa San Juan “is headed in the right direction.”
