Planning board recommends approval of YMCA facility, small Broward Health ER at Holiday Park

The Fort Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board voted April 16 to recommend approval of case UDP‑S24057, a site plan that would place a two‑story YMCA facility and a single‑story Broward Health emergency department at the north entrance of Holiday Park.

The recommendation, made during the board’s April 16 meeting, follows a presentation by the applicant’s attorney describing a project that includes a two‑story YMCA with a ground‑level teaching pool and lap pool, family and gendered locker rooms, community rooms and administrative space, and a second‑floor gymnasium and wellness/fitness center. The adjacent Broward Health building is shown as a one‑story emergency department with 12 treatment spaces; the applicant said the facility would not provide overnight stays but would be capable of stabilization and transfer to hospitals when required.

Board members and staff discussed site layout, parking and setbacks. The proposal asks for a reduced second‑floor setback along Nininger Drive (16 feet in the plan versus a 25‑foot guideline cited in staff comments). The applicant noted an approximately 44‑foot gap between the roadway and the property line; measured from the travelway, the projecting portion of the building is more than 60 feet from the entrance driveway. Sidewalks on Federal Highway would be widened, new landscaping (including oak trees) installed, and a formal pedestrian entrance to Holiday Park added where now people walk along the roadway.

The applicant described parking arrangements and shared‑use assumptions. Broward Health’s expected parking demand was described as relatively low compared with the YMCA’s peak demand, which the applicant said occurs in late afternoons and evenings. The applicant noted the city’s utilities department currently uses about 25 spaces nearby; those spaces would be available during the YMCA’s peak PM hours. The presentation said Parker Playhouse maintains licensed access to its own lot; while shared parking may be used when available, each use was described as having its own parking supply.

Board members asked whether ambulances would use the Broward Health emergency department. The applicant said it would be “extremely unusual” for ambulances to transport major trauma or full‑trauma cases to the site; ambulances would typically take trauma patients to regional trauma centers. The facility was described as able to stabilize patients and to provide imaging (the presentation referenced X‑ray and CT availability) before transfer when necessary.

The applicant said the project is consistent with the lease under negotiation between the YMCA and the city and that it accepts the conditions listed in the staff report. The board motion recommended approval “based on the findings of fact in the city staff report and testimony heard this evening,” and recommended that the application be forwarded to the city commission subject to all staff conditions.

The board’s recommendation will be advisory to the Fort Lauderdale City Commission, which must take the final action on the site plan and related approvals. The application package and staff report list additional implementation steps (building permits, final lease execution and FDOT approvals for certain frontage improvements and signage) that must be completed before construction.