Neighbors of Frederick Memorial Healthcare are not pleased with the hospitals plan to expand its garage and attended the hearing on Monday to put breaks on the project that needs unanimous approval from the Frederick Planning Commission.
Frederick Memorial Healthcare is looking to construct an extra 420-spaces in its parking garage. However, neighbors had concerns about the amount of hospital traffic that will be generated and whether or not their local streets can handle it.
Hospital workers were also present and spoke about the necessity for more parking.
While not everyone left the 5-hour hearing with what they came for, the hospital reworked its plan enough to win unanimous approval from the planning commission.
Under the revised, approved plan, the hospital will construct the 420-space addition and will be able to use the Park Avenue entrance throughout the period of construction.
However, neighbors wanted the amount of cars entering and exiting the Park Avenue entrance to be limited. The revised plan states the hospital will receive 250 access cards for their staff using the Park Avenue entrance; so only 250 can enter and exit through that entrance throughout the day as well as a number of valet parking attendants.
The revised plan has been reworded and specifies that when the construction is complete, the usage of the Park Avenue entrance will end and will only be used for emergencies. Neighbors also wanted the gate to be redesigned in the case the hospital planed to make it permanent in the future.
All of these changes in addition to others added $1 million to the original project cost, a hospital spokesman said. They also mentioned the project will take about 12-14 months to complete.
