Polk planning board rejects zoning change for HCA hospital in South Lakeland. What's next?

The Polk County Planning Commission on Wednesday voted against a zoning change that would allow a 60-bed hospital on County Road 540-A in South Lakeland.

The 4-3 vote against the land-use change for the HCA Florida Healthcare project followed a two-hour, standing-room-only meeting during which board members heard first from HCA representatives and then from residents opposed to the plan.

The 29-acre site at 540-A and Harrell's Nursery Road, owned by June 35 LLC, an HCA corporation, had gained a supportive recommendation from county planners. But several planning board members expressed concerns about potential disruptions to the surrounding neighborhoods and schools.

HCA representatives said the hospital was planned to open with 60 beds and a medical office building, but then presented architect renderings that showed a 120-bed hospital and two medical office buildings. The hospital campus would also contain an emergency room and helicopter pad and a large stormwater retention pond along County Road 540-A.

The entrance would be along the main road with a smaller driveway to a parking lot at the rear along Harrell’s Nursery Road.

Despite the project’s lack of approval from the planning commission, the next step would be a decision by the Polk County Commission. That panel is set to decide HCA’s fate on Nov. 22 at 9:30 a.m. at the county administration building in Bartow.

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Formerly the homestead of Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the parcel is zoned for residential use and is sandwiched between Valleyview Elementary School and George Jenkins High School along County Road 540-A.

Commissioners were concerned about the potential impact on school safety as well as the potential for noise to disrupt learning at the schools.

Commission Chair Rebecca Troutman and panel members Angelic Sims, Jonathan Flemming and Brook Agnini all voted against the proposal.

Troutman said she was struggling with the "compatibility issue. I'm having a hard time with that."

Sims also had an issue with compatibility and had raised the issue of sexual predators standing in the parking lot. Flemming cited security concerns and asked if the campus would be surrounded by a fence, which HCA said they would consider.

HCA attorney Jo Thacker told the board that the project would generate 300 jobs initially and nearly 600 if the number of beds doubled. The average pay would be $90,000 with another $20,000 in employee benefits. Local and state tax revenues would range from $1.1 million to $1.4 million.

She also said HCA was in talks with Polk County Public Schools for reading programs at Valleyview, support for the medical academy and an athletic trainer program at George Jenkins. Shift changes at the hospital would avoid school traffic, and they would extend existing sidewalks and build crosswalks with flashers.

In addition, left- and right-turn lanes would be constructed at the CR 540-A entrance and a southbound right turn lane would be added at Harrell’s Nursery Road and CR 540-A.

Brent Barnhisel, vice president of strategic planning and development for HCA Healthcare's west Florida division, pointed out that the plans did not call for a trauma center or organ transplant procedures.

“We will be offering the most frequent health care services that the community needs,” he said. He added the proposed institution would focus on providing rapid responses to stroke and heart attack patients to stabilize the patient’s condition, among other needs.

He presented several charts, including one showing Polk County’s growing need for additional health services. HCA projected inpatient and outpatient medical cases would top 610,505 by 2026, when the population of Polk County is expected to rise to 791,083 people.

Addressing concerns about noise, Barnhisel said the hospital would be comparable to Bartow Regional Medical Center, which receives an average per week of 7.5 ambulances and only two arrive with sirens on. A helicopter pad was mandated by law, and flights would be one to three per month based on a comparison with another HCA facility.

He also said the campus would have security guards inside and outside in response to safety concerns.

Vice chair Rennie Heath was the most vocal in support of the rezoning, which requires an amendment to the county’s comprehensive land use plan. He said he had visited the area and observed that adjacent properties were already zoned for institutional use and therefore this parcel would be compatible with the county’s comprehensive plan and a zoning change was allowed.

County planner Erik Peterson read details from the county staff report. He said the site has a slope, and soil moving would be needed to level out the property and a 100-year, 24-hour stormwater event must be contained within the boundaries of the property.

“This is a closed basin,” he said. "Rainfall does not flow to Polk’s waterways."

The acreage is now zoned Residential Low-2 density, and the change sought by HCA is for Institutional-1, which also allows for churches and mining.

Under the institutional zoning categories, the maximum size facility would be up to 945,797 square feet on the current site. “On average, a hospital that large may have approximately 541 patient beds,” the staff report said.

Outside the meeting room, resident Laura Coyle, who had testified earlier at the hearing, was pleased with the decision, even though the denial passed by one vote

“We’re definitely happy that they clearly decided to listen to the community, not just look at what was on paper,” Coyle said of Tuesday’s outcome.

But the neighbors' optimism was tempered by the next step in the process, a pending vote by county commissioners, she said.

Coyle led a petition drive at change.org to lend a voice to her neighbors who oppose the hospital. On Tuesday, 1,167 people had signed it. The group of residents also regularly post to a Facebook group NO HOSPITAL at HARRELL'S NURSERY/540-A, which has 919 followers.

She and her neighbors also placed signs in opposition to HCA’s plans with email address of the planning and county commissioners after receiving notices from Polk County in June about the potential zoning change.

Most residents were from Highlands Ridge, Chatsworth and Eagles Pointe.

The proposed hospital is within the vicinity of several other medical facilities either under construction or already in operation.

There is Orlando Regional Health, which recently gained county approval for a facility on Lakeland Highlands Road; Bartow Regional on U.S. 98 just north of Bartow; and Watson Clinic urgent care, less than half a mile west of the proposed HCA facility.

HCA also currently operates an emergency facility on South Florida Avenue across from the Merchants Walk shopping center. All are within a six-mile radius of the busy corner with a proposed land-use change.

HCA Florida Healthcare has 400 sites across Florida, including 52 hospital campuses and 48 free-standing emergency rooms.

Paul Nutcher can be reached at pnutcher@gannett.com.

Correction

An earlier version of this story misidentified Brent Barnhisel, the HCA executive who spoke to the planning commission about the proposal.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk planning board will not recommend zoning change for HCA hospital