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Council approves 282-unit affordable senior apartment project with conditions for perimeter trees
Summary
A 282-unit affordable, 55+ rental apartment project was approved with variances tied to the site's topography; council added a condition requiring 36-inch box trees along northern and western buffers to screen adjacent single-family homes.
The City Council voted May 21 to approve a proposed, all-senior affordable apartment development on a site near the 215 beltway, subject to an added landscaping condition.
Jennifer Lasovich, representing the applicant (Silver Desert Estates Limited Partnership), described the project as an all-senior (55+) affordable community with 282 rental units: 191 one-bedroom units and 89 two-bedroom units. The applicant said the site is owned in part by the Bureau of Land Management and that the city issued a reservation and later issued an RFP; the city selected the developer in 2024.
Designers said the project adapts to an approximately 40-foot grade change across the site; that topography requires perimeter retaining walls and some three-story buildings placed closest to the freeway. Staff recommended approval, noting the design incorporated the site’s natural topography and included measures to minimize visible impacts to adjacent single-family neighborhoods.
Council members asked about parking and landscaping. The developer revised the plan to provide parking roughly equal to the unit count (the submitted plan shows 282 parking spaces) and said utilities such as water, sewer and trash would be included in rent. Councilwoman Nancy Bruni asked for perimeter trees; staff read and the council added a condition requiring trees within the northern and western landscape buffers to be a minimum 36-inch box size.
Councilwoman Summers Armstrong praised the project as an important addition of affordable senior units and moved approval with the added tree condition. The council voted to approve the site development review, zoning-related variances and related items, with the added landscaping requirement.
Project materials presented at the hearing show a mix of two- and three-story buildings, elevator access to each building, internal amenities and an arroyo-open-space feature. Staff and the applicant said the design keeps taller buildings toward the beltway to minimize impacts on adjacent lower-density homes.
