City planning board OK’s proposed Benefis memory care facility
The city planning board voted unanimously during its June 23 meeting to recommend approval of a conditional use permit for Benefis Health System’s proposed retirement home at 3020 18th Ave. S.
The permit request will next go to the City Commission for consideration.
The proposed project includes repurposing the former Poor Clares monastery and constructing new buildings.
The property is currently zoned R-2 single-family medium density. Within that zoning district, a retirement is permitted with a CUP.
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The property is about 13.14 acres within the Great Falls Medical District, surrounded by a mix of institutional and residential uses, according to the staff report.
To the north of the proposed retirement home is the Benefis Grandview nursing home and the Benefis Sanavita retirement community, which is currently under construction.
To the east are the Mountain View Terrace and Whispering Ridge subdivisions, which are also zoned R-2 and consist of single-family residential uses.
Properties to the west and south are county properties, including Mount Olivet Cemetery to the west and county residential property to the south.
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Benefis is proposing to develop Benefis Village, a specialized memory care residential community for up to 48 residents as an “alternative to traditional residential facilities for those diagnosed with dementia and dementia related diseases by replacing the institutional setting with a secure, simulated village campus. The Village will emphasize self-sufficiency, social interactions and connections and normalized day-to-day habits through the campus design, but offer residents the security they need as patients living with memory challenges,” Benefis’ consultant for the project, Cushing Terrell, wrote in their narrative.
It would be a state-licensed assisted living community and employ about 52 staff members to provide 24-hour care.
The Village would include small-group residences and a large community building for activities and amenities.
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The grounds would include walking trails and outdoor recreation amenities, limited vehicle access and security fencing. Residents would be free to visit and participate in services offered throughout the campus grounds and buildings, according to the project narrative submitted to the city.
The proposed amenities include a library and cafe that would look like typical storefronts, but only be available to residents and employees would be Benefis staff.
The amenities will not seek payment for individual transactions, but “exist purely for the ongoing life enrichment of the residents,” according to the project narrative.
Benefis Village is “not a typical memory or senior living facility,” Nicole Olmstead, of Cushing Terrell, the consulting firm on the project, told the planning board during their June 23 meeting.
David Krebs, Benefis’ senior services chief operating officer, said the Village would be the first of its kind in the region modeled on a facility in Canada with a similar campus design.
To live at the Benefis Village, Kreb said individuals with dementia must be high-functioning and able to walk around. The residents will help with their daily tasks to keep their independence longer, he said.
The site is still under design, Olmstead said, with access off the existing Monastery Drive, a private road.
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Buildings in the facility are limited to 35 feet and the complex would have commercial landscaping requirements, which are more than typical residential requirements, Lonnie Hill, deputy city planning director, told the board during their June 23 meeting.
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Eric Ray, former but longtime chair of Neighborhood Council 5, said he acknowledged that the city took the council’s comments into consideration, particularly on dust control, and the council supports the project.
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Gerald Devereux lives near the proposed project and said he supported the project but was concerned about his view.
He said he always thought if anything was built on the property, it would be homes, “not skyscrapers.”
Sister Nancy Shively, president of the Poor Clare Order of Sister Clare Federation USA, told The Electric that she could address, in general terms, the closing of the Great Falls monastery.
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Canon law, the law of the Catholic Church, has criteria for establishing an autonomous Poor Clare monastery, including that it have more than five solemnly professed sisters, Shively said.
The federation established a foundation for a new monastery in Great Falls at the invitation of Bishop Anthony Milone in 1999/2000 with four sisters who volunteered.
“It was hoped that the community would grow and flourish,” Shively told The Electric.
Under canon law, if the foundation doesn’t meet the criteria for autonomy within 15 years, it must close.
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Shively said that the Great Falls monastery was given more time, for a variety of reasons, but by 2025, “it became clear the criteria weren’t going to be met; it didn’t have any new vocations since its inception, the number of solemnly professed sisters was only five, they were aging, and there were not enough sisters to provide leadership for the future. Therefore, the hard decision was made it had to close. This was a difficult decision for the sisters as well as for their friends and benefactors, as relationships had been built over the years.”
Neighborhood Council 5 reviewed the Benefis project during its May 18 meeting.
Council members and residents had concerns about lighting, the visual impact of the proposed buildings and potential dust and debris during construction.
To address those concerns, staff included a condition of approval increasing the building setbacks from eight to 15 feet, allowing for a buffer between the proposed facility and the neighboring residential area.
The city’s commercial development standards will apply, including that outdoor lighting at adjacent property lines cannot exceed 0.3 footcandles, according to the staff report, and dust control measures are included as a condition of approval.
When Benefis submitted the permit application for the project in the spring, the city’s 2013 growth policy was in effect. Commissioners adopted the new land use plan in June and staff did not review Benefis’ request for compliance with that plan, but wrote in their report that the application is consistent with the new plan and future land use map.
The property is owned by Benefis and will be tax-exempt, but will be billed for utilities, according to the staff report. Benefis will pay for utility infrastructure installation.
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