HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/12/2020 Item 2, Koob
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Robert Koob <
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Support letter for Froom Ranch Specific Plan
Attachments:Support for Villaggio Life Plan Community.docx
Please find the letter attached.
Please let me know if you have any trouble opening it, I have alternate formats available and it would
be little trouble resubmitting it.
1
August 7, 2020
Dear Planning Commissioner:
Approximately 20 years ago I visited a friend in Sarasota, FL. Although we both had
begun our professional lives as high school teachers, he had changed direction as a
result of struggling to care for his father, who eventually died as a result of Alzheimer’s
disease.
Saddened but inspired by those challenges, my friend founded a continuous care
community, and that is where we were meeting. He showed me around the lovely
campus, which contained independent and assisted living, an Alzheimer’s unit and a
skilled nursing facility. I remember most vividly the Alzheimer’s unit with its mutely
colored soft walls and no sharp corners to be found.
I left our visit wishing all elder care could be like this, and wondering why it was not.
After the visit, I returned home to my small Midwestern city, about the size of Paso
Robles, and learned that we had two such facilities.
Imagine my surprise then, when returning to San Luis Obispo in 2006, I learned there
were no such facilities anywhere in SLO County, even though California ranked th ird in
the nation for the number of such communities. San Luis Obispo – a town that prides
itself on its progressive outlook, a town with a world -class university, an enviable
number of high-tech companies, a draw to tourists from all over the world, and, yes, an
aging population. And yet San Luis Obispo goes without the services of the most logical
way to serve the needs of that aging population.
A glimmer of hope emerged when I met Ken and Judy Riener. Motivated by an
experience similar to my friend’s in Sarasota, they were dedicated to bringing to SLO a
choice that provided for a seamless and dignified path to what we all know is our final
destination.
Many years later, that possibility is now before us in the form of the Villaggio Life Plan
Community. Please do not make us wait any longer. Please endorse the Froom Ranch
Specific Plan and Villaggio that will make this a reality.
Sincerely,
Bob Koob