The Concord Design Review Board will discuss plans for a proposed medical office building and dialysis center on the site of the former Elephant Bar restaurant on Willow Pass Rd. in Concord.
The proposed building would be over 17,000-square-feet.
The design review board meeting will be held on August 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Concord City Hall, 1950 Parkside Dr.
image credit: Harriman Kinyon Architects, Inc., Concord Design Review Board agenda
I like the idea of a medical building there and the need for a dialysis center is certainly clear.
I hope the Concord Design and Review Board will pass this building plan onto the City Council for approval so the construction can begin soon.
DaVita would only be moving from their CURRENT offices conveniently located on Stanwell Dr. and shutting down that building. How likely is it that their existing class B space will be rented out?
Have they offered any guarantees of a substitute owner/lessee, or will this lead to more blight once they pack up and move down the road a few blocks?
Is there any chance a medical center will be worse than an abandoned restaurant? No! Just approve it and move on.
I think that’s an excellent idea! I always thought that was a lousy location for a restaurant!!
The biggest thing they need to deal with is traffic management. Drivers worried about getting on HWY 680 back up the right lane as far back as the water world entrance. So getting to Home Depot or Veranda is such a pain. I imagine nobody is going to want to work in that building for the same reason.
I am assuming people that are looking for jobs aren’t worried about traffic. They’re only driving to and from work once a day versus everyone else that’s on the road 24/7.
Also on the agenda Thursday night is a plan for 70 (Yes, SEVENTY!) three-story town homes to be shoehorned on Clayton Road behind Dominoes. There will be only one driveway in and out where 3512 Clayton Road is with no plans to put a stop light there. You think traffic is bad on Clayton now? Do you want three story towers now to make up the views on Clayton Road? Go to the meeting and let the Design Review know that this is a bad idea to pass along to the Planning Commission!
Heaven forbid people have places to live. The townhouses are nice and will add customers for local stores. As for traffic, any road capacity that isn’t used by Concord residents will be taken up by people cutting through Concord from East County anyway.
Emergency services should require 2 entrances. The council will bend at the knees when a developer says they need that to make a profit. How about standing up for the citizens of the neighborhood?
@Winston
I’m not debating that people need ‘places to live’. Cramming that many units into that small of a space will cause those that already live in the neighborhood to feel like it is bursting at the seams.
Your second point of trying to deflect about increased traffic falls on a weak premise: assuming that people not living there in the new homes would be living in East County, and would require driving through Concord only on that stretch of Clayton Road several times a day. You’re not considering all the new visitors to the area, delivery trucks, ubereats/grubhubs that will now be summoned to that single driveway.
@randy
This complex will be HOA. Only allowed to have one entrance for vehicles (that live there) and the second ’emergency access only’ entrance will be a swing open gate at the dead end of Gerald Drive. They cannot allow normal use for vehicles through that gate.
Thanks for the info – I think I’ll go and support this.
People need places to live. Townhomes are a good choice. It’s not like that area is exactly beautiful, so any infrastructure improvements that arise are a plus in my mind.
@hoohaa
Yes, people need to live. But the residents that already live in the surrounding neighborhoods, some for decades now, are instantly having their privacy taken away by constructing large walls of buildings built several stories up right to the fence line. What were once peaceful backyards will now have voyeurs looking into their private spaces and into their living areas. These established neighborhoods are designed as small cottages/single story.
3512 Clayton Rd is near a school, 3 different churches, various restaurants, a toy store, and Concord community park. It’s a good place for this concept. 3 stories isn’t outrageous.
The issue of access can be dealt with by opening up a small driveway on Pancho Via Way or Gerald Drive.
Direct neighbors may have their concerns, and so probably some small changes may have to be negotiated.
@Natalie
In my opinion, and for those that live around there, three stories is outrageous to gain in a few months. For decades the area has been open.
The elementary school will now be facing a wall of homes and windows of who knows who looking at the students throughout the day.
Per the rules of the design and due to the area being HOA, there cannot be a driveway on Gerald or Pancho Via for access.
One driveway in, one driveway out.
I would definitely not want a 3-story townhome complex constructed next to my home either. Hundreds of new neighbors (strangers) all at once is not my cup of tea. Sadly for you, it likely will occur. Development is part of the evolution of any growing community. It’s rearing it’s ugly head next to you and there is probably nothing you can do to stop it. Any reasoning you cite against it (traffic congestion, views ruined, voyeurism, etc) will not negate the revenue generated by local businesses and the government. Good luck in your decision making on how your going to move forward.
That parking lot is difficult to get I n and out of. I feel people needing dialysis are not at the top of their driving game. Turning onto Willow Pass from that parking is difficult because there is never a break in traffic
If they go there 3 times a week they should have it figured out. How does needing dialysis relate to ones driving ability?
I believe what Rich is referencing are side effects. Low blood pressure is common. You could also have nausea, vomiting, dry or itchy skin, muscle cramps, or feel very tired. So yes…driving ability can be effected and in most cases one should arrange travel.
@simonpure So would you say that most people arriving for treatment will most likely be driven there?
I would probably use the word “many”. I know three people who do this and it’s no walk in the park for them. I feel very fortunate for my health.
There is a dialysis center on Systron Drive
And wouldn’t it be nice for people to have another option!
Absolutely Winston. Concord only has three.
I’ve always liked the idea of a restaurant being there and frequented all the places that have been there over the years. It’s nice that it was on the way to the mall and was easily visible from the street. A doctor’s office can be anywhere.
The parking there though was always competing with the dentist’s office, and there really needed to have a better fence between that and the creek behind it. For some reason I was always seeing broken glass on the ground.
As far as a dialysis center going there– meh! I guess it could be worse and be an auto loan center. I dunno, there’s been dialysis centers in the news for all the wrong reasons. Hope this place isn’t one of them. Seems like such a high profile location that I was hoping for something better, but whatever…
For a long time, I’ve thought that would be a perfect place for some sort of homeless outreach/shelter type of place. The location is away from residential areas but very close to where many homeless already congregate.
Kind of a way to bring the homelessness assistance to the homeless vs. bringing the homeless to the assistance.
I think that is a really smart idea.
How about affordable housing for seniors.
Agreed!
I drove by Willow Pass last night and it looks like that building needs to be condemned.
Filthy eyesore!
It makes sense to build UP and allow more housing/ and families per space. What it DOESNT DO, is provide needed senior housing (single story) so I see this as needing 1. more than one access driveway, 2. plenty of onsite parking (3 cars per household), 3. Mitigation for there being NO availability for handicapped or seniors. And certainly it needs it’s own open space if it is in a high traffic area.
@Cher
Yes, I agree – we need more low-income and senior accessible housing. The Design Review Board, Planning Commission, and City Board are trying to make small advancements in this area of need. Unfortunately not at the pace it is needed, though. They are bound by rules and regulations.
Since this is a private developer based out of Danville building an HOA community, they don’t have to care about the citizens of Concord. They can make their millions and leave us that live here with the mess they created.
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Concord cannot be allowed to continue to sprawl out, it must start building upward. We have a serious housing shortage, and people get bent out of shape when the solution involves compromise on their part. I agree it will be more crowded, there will be more traffic but there also will be more housing. The only perfect solution would be to tear down the whole city and start from scratch with infrastructure, tear out the old clay pipe sewer system downtown, actually build appropriate infrastructure to support the amount of population we have, rezone extensively and build way more dense housing closer to transportation hubs/ routes/ employment. I wont hold my breath.
Darn! I was hoping an Olive Garden or Islands restaurant would go in where Elephant Bar was.