Zoning change would allow assisted-living apartments, with limits

After taking a step back last month, changes to village law could come soon to accommodate an assisted-living development in Elm Grove.

A Minneapolis firm signaled interest in developing an assisted-living facility in the village, but village officials realized it had no ordinance to define such developments.

An initial push to add a zoning category was rebuffed by the Village Board due to concerns over the potential misuse of such an ordinance.

"The last draft didn't clearly differentiate enough between these kinds of facilities and what you might call a regular apartment," Village President Neal Palmer said.

"What would stop somebody - let's just say a facility gets built, and then goes bankrupt - from wanting to convert it to plain old regular apartments. You could potentially end up with residential housing in a non-residential district."

Furthermore, as Trustee George Haas noted, if that were to happen, the added density requirements - the village intended to allow more people in assisted-living facilities - would leave the village with an even bigger problem than just having an improperly zoned building.

A new version of the ordinance would only allow these facilities in institutional zoning districts and any developer who wanted to change uses would have to go back before the village and get the land rezoned.

Also, the ordinance, set to go before the Legislative Committee on Nov. 17, would specifically define these facilities in accordance with state statutes to eliminate any question over what type of building is being developed.

"I'm hopeful that ... some of the questions that have been raised at Legislative Committee have been addressed in this new draft," Palmer said.

If the Legislative Committee approves the updated draft, it would go to the Village Board on Nov. 22. That would be the first step in bringing an assisted-living facility to Elm Grove, although the village does not have any firm agreement with a developer.