HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/15/2020 Item 9, Koob
August 7, 2020
Dear Planning Commissioner:
Approximately 20 years ago I visited a fellow alum in Sarasota, FL. We both began our
professional lives as high school teachers, but he had changed direction as a result of
the struggles he had navigating the care options for his father, who eventually died as a
result of Alzheimer’s disease. I met him in his office, located in one of buildings of the
continuous care community he had founded. He told me the story of how he came to
be there, and then showed me around the premises, a lovely campus containing
independent and assisted living, Alzheimer’s unit and skilled nursing facility. I
remember most vividly the Alzheimer’s unit with its mutely colored soft walls and no
sharp corner to be found. I left our visit wishing all elder care could be like this and
wondering why it was not. Returning to my home after the visit, I learned our small
Midwestern city, about the size Paso Robles, had two such facilities.
Imagine my surprise then, when returning to San Luis Obispo, I learned there were no
such facilities anywhere in the county even though in 2010 California ranked third in the
nation for the number of such communities. A town with many major institutions and an
aging population, 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 acquaintance in Sarasota, they were
dedicated to bring 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 and endorse the Froom Ranch
Specific Plan and Villaggio that will make this a reality.
Sincerely,
Bob Koob