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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFORT COLLINS EMERGENCY CENTER, 4858 S. COLLEGE AVE. - PDP - PDP160001 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGNEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING PROJECT: 4858 S College Ave Freestanding Emergency Room DATE: October 15, 2015 PLANNER: Ryan Mounce City Process Overview Presentation:  Proposal is located at 4858 S College Ave, along the South College Avenue Frontage Road, south of Harmony Road and north of Fairway Lane.  Proposal is for a stand-alone emergency room. The City would consider this use a Hospital, even though it does not include any beds.  Site is located in the General Commercial zone district where Hospitals are permitted subject to Type 2 (Planning & Zoning Board) review.  Project has not been formally submitted at this point, but they have presented preliminary information to the City at a conceptual review meeting. Applicant Presentation:  Idea of free-standing emergency rooms first started to treat skiers near Aspen. More recently, the trend has gained traction in Texas and we wish to bring the model to Fort Collins.  Would be a facility of several community-based physicians. The emergency room allows for better patient interaction and care by doctors, often with vastly reduced wait times and better control by doctors themselves over billing practices.  The facility would be open 24 hours and staffed by doctors, nurses, and technicians.  Facility is capable of treating many injuries, it an emergency center and more than just urgent care.  The proposed building is 1-story, approximately 8000 square feet in size with approximately 30 parking spaces.  Materials would utilize rock and brick and aluminum composite panels. There is a small tower at the front of the site where we wish to display a cross and emergency room so people know and understand medical care is available Questions, Comments & Responses: Question (Citizen): Will there be ambulances? Response (Applicant): The facility can take ambulances, although it is rare. Typically an ambulance would only bring in a patient by ambulance if they were very close to the facility. Question (Citizen): Who decides where the ambulance/patient goes? Response (Applicant): EMS decides and has protocols for all different types of situations. In part politics can also play a role. Hospitals generally try to control EMS traffic to their facilities. Question (Citizen): Will there be any overnight patients? Response (Applicant): We are an outpatient facility with ER-services. Some patients may stay for multiple hours and we can accommodate them. If a patient needs to be admitted, they would normally go to a hospital. Question (Citizen): How many trips per day will there be? Response (Applicant): Early on, there would only be a few trips per day. This model is new and with our business model we can be successful only seeing 5 or 6 patients a day. As more and more people learn and experience the facility would grow and could see 20-30 patients a day. Response (Applicant): The facility is also designed to diagnose and treat patients much faster than a typical hospital emergency room; patients would leave much quicker. Question (Citizen): Are there any other standalone ERs in the community? Response (City): UC-Health is building a new standalone ER on Harmony Road, east of their existing Harmony Campus. Question (Citizen): How does this facility compare to their new facility? Response (Applicant): Their facility was probably built for different reasons; our facility will also be smaller. Question (Citizen): What made you choose this location? Response (Applicant): It’s a convenient location, and it’s helpful to be near two main roads. Question (Citizen): Will surgery be performed? Response (Applicant): What are medically catalogued as surgical procedures like reattaching a severed finger or thoracotomy can be performed at the facility. If a procedure was needed as it was life-threatening, the facility will have that capability, but for most of what people think of as major surgeries, patients would be transferred to a hospital (ex: patient has appendicitis and needs appendix removed – they would go to a hospital). Question (Citizen): Which hospital will patients go to? Response (Applicant): We want to have a relationship with all local hospitals, so patients can ultimately choose where they would like to go. We will have transfer agreements with the hospitals. Question (Citizen): Will doctors from hospitals have surgery rights? Response (Applicant): Only in emergency situations – most of what people think of major surgery will be performed at local hospitals themselves. Question (Citizen): Does the City regulate noise (for ambulances)? Response (City): The City does have nuisances codes for noise that depend on the zone district, but these are intended for residential/commercial/industrial point sources. They do not apply to an ambulance. There are rules/protocols for ambulances and their sirens for safety reasons. Question (Citizen): Will there be screening? Response (Applicant): Yes, the City has some strict screening requirements that we will have to follow. Response (City): For lighting, Fort Collins requires all lights to be fully-shielded and down- directional. There are also standards that limit the amount of lighting that can be cast upon adjacent properties and screening requirements for parking lots to block headlights. Response (Applicant): On our site plan, you can also see the building is pushed closer to the front of the site and College Avenue and away from the rear and residential lots behind. There won’t really be anything back there. Comment (Citizen): I have some concerns about adding additional traffic to the Frontage Road and safety at the two intersections of the frontage road with College Avenue and Palmer/Fairway. There are lots of accidents at the intersections because of their strange configuration. Response (Applicant): Once we’re up and running for several years, we anticipate we’ll inly have 20- 30 patients a day, spread out over a 24-hour period. We expect most of our business to be from 5pm-2am, during non-peak hours. Response (City): The long-range access control plan for South College Avenue also calls for the frontage roads to eventually be replaced by rear-access driveways. Although there is no timeline or funding for this, the ultimate configuration and removal of the frontage road may improve the safety of those intersections by placing the rear accesses further away from College Avenue. Question (Citizen): How many employees will there be? Response (Applicant): 23-26 once it has been operation for several years. The employees will be on two, 12-hour shifts. Question (Citizen): Fairway Estates has a developed system of bridal-paths. What will happen to those? Response (Applicant): We are not planning to change that. There is an easement and we aren’t planning anything at the rear of the lot so the path is preserved. Comment (Citizen): One area where you will really need to concentrate on is drainage and stormwater. This area has a history of issues with stormwater. Currently during heavy rains or snow melt, the asphalt cul-de-sac north of your site fills up with water. All of the commercial lots drain to the rear of their lots and some dump the water into the ditch to drain south, but there was one project that isn’t conveying all of this water in a similar manner to the previous properties. Comment (Citizen): We have had to work within the past year with lawyers and property owners to come up with solutions for some of the stormwater issues; City stormwater worked with us and is aware of these issues. Comment (Citizen): A possible solution would be to pipe down the water to the pond and through the properties south of Fairway (Fort Collins-Loveland Water Property) to outfall in Fossil Creek. Response (Applicant): We’re going to be looking closely at stormwater. Our civil engineering is here tonight and that is one of the issues he will be focusing on. Response (City): The stormwater issue did come up at the conceptual review meeting and the stormwater department will be taking a close eye at this, especially if they’ve already been working with neighbors within the past year on the issue and know of problems in the area. Question (Citizen): Have you chosen a project management company yet? Response (Applicant): Not yet, waiting until we have approval from the City first. Question (Citizen): When do you anticipate construction? Response (Applicant): Need the City approvals first. We’re hopeful we can have that within about 6 months.