A group of neighbors near the site of a proposed hospital in Fountain Hills has asked the Town Council and staff to delay issuing building permits until they “ensure that the few wishes of the neighbors who have worked hard to compromise with this group, and have asked for very little, are listened to as promised by the mayor [in June].”

The neighbors made their position known during the call to the public portion of the regular council session on Dec. 17. They also wrote to the council and staff expressing their concerns.

In a letter sent to the council on Dec. 10, resident Larry Meyers stated, “I am writing you to inform you that certain events have come to pass with regard to the hospital project at Saguaro and Trevino. As a backdrop to this project, which we [neighbors] all agreed to support as long as the developer (the doctor group) was willing to work through a few issues with the neighbors to provide an environment that promotes ‘good neighbors in the neighborhood,’ there were only a few things the neighbors wanted to see corrected.

“One issue was the rearranging of the ambulance bay so as to not have headlights shining into the back of the residential properties bordering the parcel, especially after getting their variance to operate all night.

“Create a more Sonoran style of architecture so as to better blend into the neighborhood and create a better visual at the entrance to town.

“Take care of the traffic, landscaping, site planning. ‘What would it look like…to make this a project that everyone would be happy to have,’ [as stated by Mayor Ginny Dickey at the June 4 council meeting].”

“The attitude (of the developer) toward neighbors is arrogant,” Meyers said at the Dec. 17 session. “Once they get their permits there is no reason to work with the town or neighbors.”

He said that the residents who once backed the project are deeply disappointed.

Town Manager Grady Miller said at the Dec. 17 meeting that he had contacted the developer and asked for them to set up a meeting with the neighbors in January. As of this writing no meeting had been scheduled.

The discussion at the recent meeting was limited due to comments being made at call to the public, which is set aside for residents to comment on items not on the regular agenda. Dickey was concerned that if the comments strayed too far into a discussion there was a potential for an open meeting law violation.

After Miller forwarded Meyers’ Dec. 10 letter the developer provided a response.

The letter, signed by Pete Peters, project manager for the medical center, listed nine specific areas being addressed by the developer.

Overall the comments related that the developer has complied with all requirements and in some cases addressed specific concerns. He also states that in some instances the design is based on regulations and licensing requirements they do not control, such as the ambulance bay.

Specific to the architecture, Peters states, “the architecture of the hospital was developed by [a] well qualified and competent architectural team that [has] designed multiple hospitals. It was specifically designed to not have an institutional feel and to blend in with the surrounding community and buildings. It is even more specifically the same design that was presented to the P&Z and subsequently the Town Council for approval.”

Peters also addresses the meeting with the neighbors.

“We intend to hold a meeting with the residents between the second and third week of January…with the residents of Fountain Hill and our neighbors as part of our outreach to the residents to answer any questions and walk them through the services that will be provided at the hospital and the process of our development timeline as we seek a SUP to operate the hospital for 24 hours,” Peters said.

“We will meet again specifically with our neighbors to discuss the next steps before construction is commenced, should our permits be approved.”

The neighbors in the surrounding area of Monterey and Trevino drive west of Saguaro also challenged a previous plan for the property at Saguaro and Trevino. That plan was for an assisted living facility and the developer eventually walked away from the project.