The Clinic's Plan
Monroe Clinic plans to build its new hospital in the space now used as parking lots west of the clinic. The new hospital will include new obstetrics, surgery, imaging and emergency room departments.
The clinic's new front entrance will be to the east, facing the present hospital parking lot, which will be slightly reduced to accommodate a drive-around. Overflow parking will be in a new lot on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 5th Street.
Staff parking, on 22nd Avenue at the end of 4th Street, will be enlarged from 374 to 583 spaces, adding by 60 feet on the east end and 20 feet across the south side.
Additional spaces will be added to a present lots, west and north of the present hospital.
A current parking lot northwest of the clinic will remain as a maintenance lot, and another lot on the east will accommodate entry to pediatrics and ED departments and meeting rooms. A heliport pad will be located between the two lots. The Clinic has been in discussion with Alliant Energy about putting the overhead lines underground.
Monroe Clinic was seeking General Business District (GBD) zoning for parking lots it's expanding to accommodate the $85 million expansion of its campus facilities. Such zoning would allow Monroe Clinic to build on the lots in the future without needing Plan Commission approval.
But some residents were concerned about noise and lights in the parking lots being so close to their homes.
The commission's solution was to change zoning for most of the Clinic's main campus to R-3/conditional use zoning. Included in the conditional use specifications are a requirement for a 30-foot distance between the lot and other residential properties, and the most dense standard the city has for a vegetative buffer.
Monroe Clinic, on 22nd Avenue, was seeking a zoning change of areas with various classifications around the present clinic and hospital to one General Business District (GBD). The central issue Wednesday involved the enlarging of some parking lots and establishing new ones to accommodate a loss of 265 present spaces when the new hospital is build west of the clinic, planned to begin next April.
Two parking lots threaten to infringe upon the peace and quiet of residents' backyards. Monroe Clinic plans to enlarge a staff parking lot (lot No. 6) at the end of 4th Street on 22nd Avenue and to create a new smaller lot (lot No. 7) on the corner of 22nd Avenue and 5th Street.
Left out of the commission's vote is the larger staff parking lot. Monroe Clinic will return once firm numbers are available to determine whether the conditional buffer restrictions will hinder about 50 parking spaces.
At the meeting, 5th Street residents discussed the width and density of buffer areas between their property and the parking lots with David McLean, of the architect and design firm Kahler Slater, and Steve Borowski, director of facility services at Monroe Clinic, who presented the plans to the commission.
Accommodating the concerns of the residents, McLean and Borowski explained that a tall and dense row of vegetation would protect the residents from late-night headlights and snow removal machinery.
But McLean said there may be room for only about 24 feet of buffer, without losing the spaces.
A general business district zone allows for a variety of businesses, including medical centers, and it offered residents no assurance of what the land could be used for in the future. Under GBD zoning, the Clinic could build on the parking lot in the future without coming back to the plan commission.
City Attorney Rex Ewald said a covenant concerning buffer expanse and materials could be drawn up between the residents and the Clinic, something in which the city would not be involved.
The R-3 zone allows for multiple family housing museums, libraries, parks, playgrounds and community centers. Conditional uses include churches, shelters, schools, daycare centers and medical health centers. Parking lots are considered an accessory to the building, subject to conditional use. With this zoning, Monroe Clinic would have to seek plan commission approval to expand.
The Commission also voted to recommend to the Monroe City Council to vacate an alley in the 2200 block north of 5th Street. The Monroe Clinic owns property on both sides of the alley.
Commission members Ron Spielman and William Bethke were absent.