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Neighborhood report

Zoning judge in favor of four-story hospital

It needs approval from county commissioners, but Calusa Trace residents maintain the building would be too tall.

By BILL COATS
Published January 1, 2006

LUTZ - A zoning judge has recommended that county commissioners approve a fourth story for a future St. Joseph's Hospital branch.

"This part of Lutz is suburban," Andrew Baker, a county zoning hearing master, wrote last week. "The proposed height for a hospital is compatible on Van Dyke Road next to a theater and supermarket."

Baker was referring to a nearby Publix and the former Hollywood 20 theater, which is to be razed and replaced with a Kohl's Department Store.

His recommendation was sour news for Gerry Reno, homeowners president in Calusa Trace, which contains 520 houses and 250 condominiums north of the St. Joseph's site. Reno had argued before Baker on Dec. 5 that the hospital would be too big for the nearby neighborhoods.

"The residents here, they kind of see their rights as property owners being totally ignored in the process," Reno said last week.

Reno noted that St. Joseph's was approved for only 132,500 square feet of space when people began buying houses in Calusa Trace.

"Now we get this taken up to 360,000, and now they intend to go to 400,000," Reno said. "Where's the limit? How much entitlement should there be?"

St. Joseph's already is building a major outpatient center on the 38-acre property. The hospital will be immediately north of that.

The proposed rezoning, which is to be decided by county commissioners on Jan. 24, would enlarge the hospital's maximum size, but eliminate a 300-bed nursing home the county had approved five years ago.

St. Joseph's representatives said the rezoning wouldn't add beds or otherwise make the future hospital busier. Rather, it would make it roomier, with an atrium, wider corridors and more private rooms.

Baker suggested Calusa Trace should consider the hospital an asset.

"The provision of quality health care within a reasonable distance to the residents it is intended to serve is desirable," Baker wrote.

- Bill Coats can be reached at 813 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 31, 2005, 09:28:04]