This item had a first public hearing on July 19, 2016.
Existing Conditions:
The overall 15.41-acre site owned by Morton Plant North Bay Hospital is generally located east of Madison Street, north of Indiana Avenue, south of Kentucky Avenue and southeast of Ohio and Forest Avenues. The block bounded by Kentucky and Forest Avenues and Oak Hill Drive is included in the site.
Established in 1965, North Bay Hospital was originally known as West Pasco Hospital. It is a not-for-profit community hospital that was the first hospital in West Pasco County. Morton Plant Hospital Association, Inc. purchased the hospital in June 2000 after leasing it for two years. North Bay is also part of the Bay Care Health System and is one of four full-service hospitals participating in the Morton Plant Mease Health Care partnership. Since its purchase, Morton Plant has enhanced the equipment and facilities and pursued a plan to acquire properties which surround the existing site in order to expand the facility.
The current hospital building provides general acute care hospital services, outpatient services, an educational center, emergency room and all ancillary structures and facilities typically associated with a hospital. It houses 154 patient beds.
Proposal:
To meet the needs of the growing community, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital is renovating the emergency department and providing a new main entrance to the hospital. This will improve campus flow and provide a better experience for patients, families and visitors. Construction is expected to commence later this summer and continue through early 2018. Upon completion, the expansion will provide:
· A 28-bed emergency department
· A 15-bed observation unit
· New hospital main entrance and lobby
· New emergency room entrance and lobby
The proposal amends the existing PDD zoning with development standards that coincide with the changes to the site plan. It is consistent with the Public/Semi-Public land use category. The lot currently zoned R-3 District is being rezoned to the Planned Development District.
The proposed site improvements are scheduled within several phases: Phases 1 and 2 include the construction of an employee parking lot along the Forest Avenue/Ohio Avenue site. The parking lot will include landscaping and fencing. The office at 6620 Forest Avenue will be demolished for the employee parking lot. Phase 3 includes the Madison Street entrance improvements and the parking lot reconfiguration near the “existing generator facility” for continuous parking lot movement during construction. Phase 4 addresses the main entrance (relocated to the interior of the site) and the restoration of the parking lot reconfiguration from Phase 3. Phase 5 will include the temporary drop-off canopy for the existing Emergency Department. Phase 6 will include the new Emergency Department canopy, parking lot, and relocation of the Emergency Department entrance. The loading/service area on the south side of the building will be screened by a masonry wall. Phase 7 will include restoration of parking spaces and the drive aisle at the temporary drop-off canopy. The hospital indicates that some of the phases above will be done simultaneously in order not to affect any of the hospital operations.
The hospital canopy will move closer to Madison Street at a 20-foot setback. The screening wall will be constructed to a 15-foot setback along Indiana Avenue. Parking will be reconfigured on the north side of the hospital to accommodate the building expansion. A total of 593 total spaces will be provided. New landscaping will be planted throughout the site and existing beds will be refurbished.
The request for approval to the PDD District includes specific development standards as part of the site plan review as provided below:
PDD Development Standards:
- Site size: Three acres minimum; 15.41 acres provided;
- Impervious Surface Ratio (ISR): 70 percent maximum; 67.8 percent proposed;
- Front setback:
- Madison Street –20 feet to hospital canopy, 45 to portion of main hospital, with a 110 feet to majority of main hospital;
- Indiana Avenue – 45 feet to existing hospital, 15 feet to masonry screen wall;
- Forest Avenue – Four feet to medical office building (one-story portion); 25 feet to existing medical office (6620 Forest Avenue);
- Side setback: North property line – 249 feet; south property line – six feet (6620 Forest Avenue);
- Rear setback: Not applicable;
- Building height (proposed buildings):
- Proposed storage building – One-story/25 feet;
- Generator/gas building - One-story, 20 feet;
- Outpatient surgery addition – One-story/25 feet;
- Sleep/rehab center – One-story/25 feet, stepped back to the MOB
- Medical office building (MOB) – Four stories/70 feet;
- Patient tower – Three stories/60 feet;
- Building design: All buildings will have a similar design;
- Landscape buffer: 9.5 percent vehicular use area (VUA) with flexibility in plantings in areas of utility placement; the existing offices along Forest Avenue encroach into 15-foot buffer; existing paving encroaches into three-foot VUA along Indiana Avenue; three-foot landscaped buffer provided around entire parking lot with trees planted within landscaped islands and along the perimeter;
- Fencing – Six-foot high, almond, PVC fence along the east and south property lines of the employee parking lot at the southeast corner of Indiana Avenue and Forest Avenue; six-foot high, black, vinyl clad chain link around the stormwater retention area with landscaping on the exterior side;
- Parking –
- Parking standard: 1.5 spaces/bed; 5 spaces/1,000 square feet of medical office;
- Parking provided: 593 total spaces, including 17 handicap spaces (includes 100 space parking area adjacent to Forest Avenue).
Concurrency Review:
To ensure that the rezoning will meet concurrency standards, an availability and demand analysis is performed for the maximum potential development. Concurrency is determined by comparing the available capacity of a public facility/service with the total demand of the subject site, which is measured by determining the potential demand minus the demand generated by the existing uses.
· Traffic:
The Land Development Code requires a transportation study for proposed projects that generate more than 50 trips per day in the PM peak hour of operation. The hospital does not propose to add more beds at this facility, but the building expansion will yield 19 PM peak hour trips. No traffic study is needed.
· Sanitary Sewer:
Sanitary sewer treatment will be provided by the City’s wastewater treatment facility, which is designed to handle 7.5 million gallons per day (gpd). From the 7.5 million gpd, Pasco County is allotted a capacity of 3.0 million gpd, which leaves the City with a capacity of 4.5 million gpd. The total daily flow is approximately 5.0 million gpd, allowing for a 2.5 million gpd surplus capacity.
The proposed rezoning is expected to generate demand of 17,328 gpd which is serviceable by the City. The proposed rezoning does not include the addition of more beds therefore will not impact the City’s sewer level of service.
· Potable Water:
The City of New Port Richey will provide water service and the City is supplied water by Tampa Bay Water. The present design of the City’s water treatment facility is 11.1 million gpd. The approximate average daily flow is 3.5 million gpd with a surplus of 7.6 million gpd.
The proposed rezoning is expected to generate demand of 23,104 gpd for residential uses and 1,364 gpd for commercial uses which is serviceable by the City. The proposed rezoning does not include the addition of more beds therefore will not impact the City’s potable water level of service.
· Solid Waste:
The City does not provide solid waste service. This is provided through franchise agreements with independent haulers. The City has an interlocal agreement with Pasco County for solid waste disposal and the County is responsible for providing adequate dumping sites.
· Drainage:
The City handles drainage demand through the development review process at the time such development occurs. Post-development drainage patterns cannot exceed pre-development patterns. Stormwater requirements are being met with this development which includes three retention areas. Run-off from the proposed parking lot at the southeast corner of Ohio and Forest Avenues is anticipated to flow northeast to the existing retention pond.
· Recreation:
According to the adopted level of service for future recreation needs (Table 5, Recreation and Open Space Elements, Comprehensive Plan), the City of New Port Richey has a surplus of facilities for a population of 20,000 and over, depending on the type of facility. Because the proposal is for a commercial use, it should have no affect on recreation levels of service.
· Fire & Emergency Medical Services:
Fire and emergency medical services will be provided to this property by Station #1 is located at 6333 Madison Street. The Fire Department will continue to serve this property and the rezoning will not adversely affect fire and EMS service and response time.
· Police:
The City of New Port Richey administers police service. There are currently 42 officers that offer police protection to the residents of the City. Community policing service will be provided through the City’s zone system and officers in the field.
Compatibility with Comprehensive Plan:
The proposal will be consistent with the following Comprehensive Plan objectives and policies:
· Future Land Use Map, C.7.a – The Public/Semi-Public Category recognizes identifiable areas of the community which support public, municipal and semi-public community services and facilities.
· Policy 1.3.2 – Commercial development shall be of a type, as defined in the land development regulations, which is intended to serve the general retail day-to-day commercial needs (e.g. convenience goods and services), and personal and professional service needs of the residents of the City of New Port Richey, seasonal visitors to this community and the surrounding unincorporated County.
· Objective 1.4 – The City shall encourage the use of the planned unit development (the intent of which is to provide flexible standards and development and guidelines while maintaining and protecting the desired community character) for future development and, as appropriate, redevelopment activities.
· Policy 1.4.3 – The planned unit development regulations shall address an allowance for zero lot line cluster or other non-traditional lot layout or site design; the identification of restrictions on permitted or conditional land uses within the district; the establishment of minimum acreage and dimensional requirements, minimal design, landscaping/buffering and illumination criteria.