Celina officials deny proposal for downtown senior living facility

Plans for a proposed senior living facility in downtown Celina are on hold after city officials denied a proposal modifying several city design standards.

Celina City Council voted at an April 14 meeting to deny the requested changes.

What you need to know

The applicant requested several changes to the city’s downtown code, including increasing the maximum building height from three stories to five and allowing a different building type.

Celina’s Planning and Zoning Commission previously recommended approval of the modifications in January, per city documents.

While council denied the requested changes, city documents state the proposed land use is still allowed by the downtown code, just not with the design standards as presented.

The details

The proposed 2-acre facility would be located at the southeast corner of South Oklahoma Drive and East Main Street, according to city documents.

Plans for the project included a five-story, age-restricted independent living facility with a structured parking garage located on the southern portion of the property.

The project, called Preston Club Celina, would include about 180 residential units across two buildings for residents 55 and older. Amenities would include a 4,500-square-foot ground floor fitness center and 9,000 square feet of commercial space, per city documents.

Zooming in

Dusty McAfee, Celina’s director of development services, said the item had been tabled for the past couple of meetings while an associated development incentive agreement was being worked out.

Part of the discussion included nearby roadway improvements surrounding the proposed site. Reconstruction of three nearby residential streets, initially estimated at about $2.8 million, would have potentially been handled by the developer rather than the city.

However, McAfee said that request was later changed to only include improvements to two of the three streets.

Several council members said while they liked the proposed use, they were not in favor of approving the associated incentive agreement.

“There’s $2.8 million in roadway improvements, but one thing we struggle with is the perception of the project coming off like we’re incentivizing multifamily, which obviously with our water situation, it’s not something we really want to do,” Mayor Ryan Tubbs said.

Celina officials are currently considering implementing new water conservation regulations this year.

One more thing

Celina is currently working to convert all downtown streets to concrete and address ongoing drainage issues. City officials recently approved more than $10 million in upcoming roadwork, including planned construction work for Hillside Drive and Oklahoma Drive.