SNOW HILL – A text amendment being considered by Worcester County officials would give more flexibility to the developers of health care facilities.
Last Thursday the Worcester County Planning Commission agreed to give a favorable recommendation to a text amendment submitted by attorney Mark Cropper that would create a floating zoning district known as a health care planned unit development (HCPUD).
“It gives greater flexibility as to how you can develop that property,” Cropper said.
Cropper created the text amendment at the request of Palmer Gillis, the developer behind the health care facilities near the Ocean Pines North Gate. Gillis told the commission that he’d already built two 20,000-square-foot buildings there and had plans to eventually offer 100,000 square feet of medical offices there. Gillis said that under the property’s existing zoning, he wasn’t able to erect a building larger than 20,000 square feet. Instead of constructing five 20,000 square foot buildings, Gillis said he’d like to limit the project to one more building, albeit a significantly larger one. He said patients would be better served by a larger building housing a variety of services.
“We all know healthcare delivery needs to be more efficient,” Gillis said.
Chris Hall, vice president of strategy and business development at Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC), said a larger building would be able to house multiple specialists serving patients. He said providing health services at the hospital was expensive and that care would be more affordable and accessible offsite.
“It makes it more convenient,” Hall said. “It makes it easier.”
The text amendment would only allow HCPUDs on commercial properties at least 10 acres in size. Cropper said that while it was not site specific, the amendment would enable Gillis to finish off his project with one large building as opposed to three smaller ones. He said that while rezoning had been an option for the property, he considered the text amendment the better option because it would guarantee the site would be used for health care facilities. He pointed out that if the property were to be rezoned to C-2, any C-2 use could be established there.
“You can’t limit a rezoning on a particular use,” Cropper said.
He stressed that if the text amendment was adopted, the applicant would still need to get the approval of the commission to move forward with an HCPUD.
“The applicant still has to convince you as a body this type of health care facility is appropriate,” he said. “It just gives them the right to ask.”
The commission voted unanimously to forward the amendment on to the Worcester County Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.
