Hialeah board clears land‑use, rezoning and permits to expand assisted‑living facility at 1760 E. First Ave.

The City of Hialeah Planning and Zoning Board on Jan. 29, 2025 approved a small‑scale land‑use amendment, rezoning, a conditional use permit and related variances to allow an assisted‑living facility at 1760 East First Avenue to expand from 34 existing beds to a maximum of 74 beds.

The change begins with a land‑use amendment from low‑density residential to medium‑density residential and was followed by zoning approvals and variances that the board approved with conditions. The measures were presented on behalf of Cornerstone Property Ventures 2 LLC by Javier Vasquez, Esquire, and were recommended by city planning staff.

Why it matters: The approvals are intended to bring a long‑running assisted‑living use into formal conformity with current city rules and permit a two‑story addition to accommodate 40 new beds. Planning staff framed the application as a way to regularize a use in place since the 1980s and to respond to local demand for mental‑health and supportive residential services.

What the board approved and why: Attorney Javier Vasquez said the property has operated as an assisted‑living facility since the mid‑1980s and that the owner now seeks to expand the licensed bed count to 74. "This is an opportunity to clean up the entire situation from a land use perspective, from a zoning perspective," Vasquez told the board.

City planning staff (Deborah Storch) described the technical requests: rezoning the parcel to a multifamily district, a conditional use permit to allow an assisted‑living facility, a variance to expand a nonconforming use, a lot‑coverage variance (proposed 53.27% vs. 45% allowed), and parking variances. Storch summarized a parking demand study included with the application and said, "Therefore, a 74 bed facility would require 10 parking spaces, and the existing 7 parking spaces would satisfy the demand of a facility with no more than 58 beds."

To address parking shortfalls, the applicant committed to providing satellite employee parking at another facility owned by the applicant at 3051 East Forest Avenue and to shuttle employees as needed; staff required that satellite parking be used when encroachment or tandem parking is observed and that employees and visitors not block the public sidewalk. The board’s approval limited the bed count to 74, required the project to be built according to submitted plans, required payment or mitigation for nine canopy trees that cannot be planted on‑site, and required the owner to ensure on‑site operations do not cause sidewalk encroachment or tandem parking.

Other details and staff findings: The application includes a proposed two‑story addition of roughly 3,469 square feet at the rear of the lot to house the additional beds and a façade upgrade for the existing building. Staff noted the property has been licensed with the state for assisted‑living uses since the 1980s and that much of the surrounding block is low‑density residential, with medium‑density designations immediately adjacent to the north. The parking demand study measured occupancy at multiple applicant‑owned facilities and reported a demand of 0.129 spaces per bed and identified daytime on‑street availability along East First Avenue during peak midday hours.

Board action and next steps: The land‑use amendment, rezoning application, conditional use permit and variances were approved by motions on the Jan. 29 agenda; the board’s recommendations will be forwarded to the City Council. City staff noted the council is scheduled to hear planning and zoning recommendations on Feb. 11, 2025.

Ending: Project approvals are conditional; implementation steps — including the design and permitting of the addition, final parking arrangements, tree mitigation payments and any additional variances required during building permit review — must be completed before the expansion can proceed.