The Planning and Zoning Commission wants to see a more precise definition of hospital before considering a recommendation to the Town Council on a zoning designation for hospitals in Fountain Hills.

The commission voted 6-0 at its session on May 10 to continue the discussion until it meets July 12. This means the council will not consider the zoning amendment until it returns from summer break on Aug. 17.

The commission decision to continue is based on concerns that the proposed definition of a hospital in the ordinance is overly broad and does not go far enough to preclude the zoning being used for such uses as detox facilities.

The current definition for a hospital in the Fountain Hills Zoning Ordinance states, “a place for the treatment or care of human ailments, where overnight lodging for patients is provided, other than nursing homes.”

In his report, Development Services Director John Wesley offered a variety of examples of how hospital is defined by other municipalities but provided no specific recommendation of language to be used. Many of the examples had inclusions such as psychiatric care, preventorium, sanitarium and care of human ailments.

Wesley said he would likely develop a definition similar to what exists currently in the ordinance but would provide exclusions to uses that the commission raised concerns about, such as detox facilities.

The P&Z discussion became controversial after residents came to believe the amendment under consideration would allow drug and alcohol “detox” facilities in Fountain Hills. While that provision was being considered as a separate amendment, it was not related to hospitals. Zoning provisions for detox facilities are no longer under consideration.

The two zoning provisions became conflated in discussion as staff began working on the amendments and timing became coincidental.

The proposed hospital provision came about due to inconsistencies in the zoning ordinance related to the development of the Fountain Hills Medical Center. When the FHMC came up for consideration, the Zoning Ordinance had no provisions related to zoning for hospitals in town.

As a result, staff considered what it believed to be appropriate zoning for such a facility and proposed C-2, or intermediate commercial, be used. However, the site being proposed for the medical center was zoned C-1, neighborhood commercial professional district.

Neither the zoning applicant, who was the property owner at the time, nor the developer of the medical center objected to such a zoning change. However, residential neighbors of the property at Trevino Drive and Saguaro Blvd. raised their concerns related to the zoning. C-2 would allow uses that the residents would not support, and they had fears that if the zoning were changed and FHMC were not built or was ultimately not successful, it would open the door to uses not appropriate for the proximity to residential homes. The residents urged that the property remain C-1.

The C-1 zoning created an issue in that such uses generally close their doors by 11 p.m. and the zoning stipulations did not allow for 24-hour operation, which would be needed for the FHMC emergency clinic. The workaround on this was a Special Use Permit (SUP), which was applied for and the council ultimately approved.

That leaves FHMC, which recently opened its doors, on property with an underlying zoning of C-1 with a SUP for 24-hour occupation.

Detox element

Within the same timeframe as the development of FHMC, town staff was approached by a real estate agent asking on behalf of a client whether there was zoning in Fountain Hills that allows for operation of a detoxification facility for drug or alcohol abusers. Staff discovered there were no provisions in the ordinance to allow such a use. However, they deemed it appropriate for consideration. It was considered consistent with the town’s stated economic development goals of targeting the health and wellness business sector.

There has been no specific applicant to approach the Town of Fountain Hills requesting zoning for a detox facility.

Staff chose on its own to address the detox item and, as there was a need to address the pending issue related to hospital zoning, it was decided to bring both proposed amendments forward together, but as separate ordinances. While FHMC was approved under a special use permit, there is still no zoning that specifically allows for a hospital. It was decided to amend the ordinance to allow hospitals within C-1 zoning to be consistent with what is now existing. While FHMC does not technically qualify as a hospital at this juncture, its planned future expansion on the same site would bring it to that classification.

Considering both issues are related to health services, staff chose to develop the zoning amendments separately and present them to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Town Council at the same time. That is the only correlation, there has never been a direct connection between the two.

Rocky relationship

The relationship between nearby residents and the FHMC owners and developer was somewhat rocky from the beginning. The residents had concerns about how the facility was being designed related to exterior lighting for 24-hour operation, noise related to rooftop HVAC units and landscape and physical wall screening between the medical center and the residences.

While there were discussions over these issues, the neighbors never believed the developers were taking their concerns seriously and say they did not do as they promised during construction.

At the P&Z meeting May 10, neighbor Jane Bell stated that the residents felt that the rules were overlooked and the town failed to enforce building regulations.

“(FHMC) doesn’t have a license to operate as a hospital and may never have,” Bell said. “That will open the door to a detox facility.”

For his part, Development Services Director John Wesley said that, from the staff perspective, the developer substantially complied with the rules and the terms of the special use permit, which were written to address the neighbors’ concerns.

When the neighbors learned that the P&Z commission, and ultimately the council, were to be looking at the zoning amendments for the detox and the hospital language at the same time, their distrust was immediate. Town officials almost as quickly directed staff to withdraw the proposed amendment related to detox facilities.

On the table

The Town Council in 2019 made the decision to allow the proposed medical center and ultimately the hospital to go forward on property zoned C-1. As a result, staff chose to update the zoning ordinance to allow hospitals within C-1. According to Wesley, it is not legally possible to allow the current situation to be a one-time only offer.

“There was some thought that the previous action by the council was meant to apply to just the property at Trevino and Saguaro,” Wesley said in his report. “All property with the same zoning (designation) must be treated the same.”

That is the reason for staff proposing that hospitals be permitted in the C-1 zoning district.

Rumors began to abound that the medical center was planning all along to become a detox facility and was backing into the plan through this zoning proposal. To say that FHMC staff was taken by surprise by these stories is an understatement.

Dr. Scott Schleifer and Cindy Golisch, who were representing the medical center at the recent P&Z meeting, were emphatic in stating there was no plan, and would be no plan, for Fountain Hills Medical Center to become a detox facility. They indicated their willingness to put that pledge in writing.

“Once we received the special use permit, we have been very busy in developing the land and gearing up for the extension of the facility. To date, we have put in over $1 million into the second phase of the project, some of which were direct stipulations made by the neighbors,” Golisch said. “We have extended the wall, planted additional trees, put in utilities, sewage, drainage and widened the street. We are moving full speed ahead in building the second phase in order to obtain an acute care license to operate as a hospital. This will give us full hospital status and allow the facility to provide a much-needed surgical center to the community.

“In addition, we want to reemphasize that the Medical Center will never become a drug rehabilitative center.”