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Commission sets hearing for MMC freestanding ER rezoning; CON uncertainty prompts conditional recommendation discussion
Summary
The Planning Commission scheduled Aug. 6 for a public hearing on rezoning 2.05 acres along East Pitts Lane from Commercial Fringe to Commercial Highway to allow a freestanding emergency room proposed by Murfreesboro Medical Clinic.
The Planning Commission on July 16 voted to set a public hearing for Aug. 6 on a rezoning request by Murfreesboro Medical Clinic (MMC) to change roughly 2.05 acres along East Pitts Lane from Commercial Fringe (CF) to Commercial Highway (CH). The rezoning would allow a freestanding emergency department (ED) because staff said the city’s zoning definition treats that use similarly to a hospital, which is not allowed in CF.
Staff said the subject parcel sits within a parent parcel that was annexed and previously zoned CF; the proposed freestanding ED would be coordinated with the existing MMC clinic under construction on the same parent parcel. Planning staff advised that CH is the zoning district that allows hospital-type uses under the current zoning code and recommended the commission set a hearing so both planning commission and City Council can consider whether a zoning change and any transition policy exception is warranted.
During the meeting, Gordon Ferguson, vice president of community relations for the hospital system, described experience operating MMC’s freestanding ED in the Westlawn area and said "the vast majority of the folks coming to the emergency room are coming by private vehicle" and that only about "2 percent" of visits arrive by EMS. MMC said the planned layout would have two canopied entrances — one for the public and one for EMS — with EMS traffic routed from East Pitts Lane. Joey Pee, CEO of Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, said the clinic has submitted a letter supporting both its freestanding facility and another freestanding ED planned by TriStar; Pee said he did not know what MMC would do with the parcel if the state denies the Certificate of Need (CON).
Why it matters: Rezoning would change allowable uses on the parcel; commissioners raised operational questions about ambulance access and noted that the state’s CON decision could determine whether CH is an appropriate permanent zoning. Commissioners discussed the option of forwarding a recommendation to council that is conditional on the CON being granted.
The commission set the public hearing for Aug. 6. Staff and the applicant said the CON application is on the state agenda Aug. 27. Commissioners noted they could recommend a rezoning conditioned on the CON approval or leave the matter for council deliberation.
