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Hialeah board backs 12-bed expansion at long-running Susana Wesley nursing home
Summary
The Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of a conditional use permit and parking variance to allow Alluren Rehabilitation and Senior Living PropCo LLC to add 12 skilled-nursing beds to the Susana Wesley Health Center and reduce parking requirements, following staff recommendation and applicant testimony.
The City of Hialeah Planning and Zoning Board on Jan. 15 recommended approval of a conditional use permit and related variances to allow the Susana Wesley Health Center to add 12 skilled-nursing beds.
The action would expand the facility from 120 to 132 licensed beds and approve a variance to reduce the on-site parking requirement from 44 spaces to 40. The board’s recommendation will now go to the City Council for final action on Jan. 28.
Staff read the application into the record and recommended approval, noting the site has operated as a nursing facility since 1984 and calling the requested expansion a “minimal” increase that will be accommodated within the existing building. Staff said peak shift staffing (including the 12-bed addition) ranges from 28 employees in the morning to 14 at night and concluded parking on site exceeds the number of employees on any one shift.
Applicant attorney Javi Vasquez (representing Alluren Rehabilitation and Senior Living PropCo LLC) told the board the 12 additional beds will be “retrofitted” into unused internal space and repeated that staff counts support the requested 4-space parking variance. Vasquez said the facility is “ACA approved for the additional beds,” describing the application as a permitting formality to match current operations.
Board members pressed for clarification about staffing and visitor parking. Vasquez said residents in the facility do not drive and that visitor needs are accommodated by the existing spaces. After public hearing closed, the board voted to recommend approval. The motion was made by Board Member Iglesias and seconded by Board Member San Santiago; roll-call votes recorded in the transcript show board members voting yes and the clerk announcing the item approved.
The board’s written recommendation and resolution will go to City Council, which may affirm, modify or override the board’s decision. If the council adopts a resolution approving the permit, the applicant was instructed to contact the city clerk for a copy of the final decision and then the building department for any required permits.
The planning staff note attached to the application says a decision and resolution will be prepared for council review and that the council may “affirm, affirm with conditions, or override” the board action.
