ARC recommends rezoning of 509 S. Hyde Park Ave for Tampa General imaging use; neighbors warn of parking impacts

The Architectural Review Commission voted Monday to recommend that City Council approve a rezoning for 509 South Hyde Park Avenue that would allow office and medical‑office use for a Tampa General Hospital imaging center.

The commission’s recommendation accompanies reservations from several commissioners and numerous neighbors about an associated parking waiver. The applicant seeks to retain an existing nonconforming building and to have medical‑office use allowed; staff said the project would not increase the building footprint and that transportation staff reviewed the traffic analysis submitted by the applicant’s consultant.

Truett Gardner, appearing for Tampa General Hospital, told the commission the hospital is the contract purchaser and plans to operate an off‑campus imaging center to shift some diagnostic demand away from its main Davis Island campus. “We’re not going to intensify it,” Gardner said, adding the hospital would continue to use the building’s current configuration rather than expand it.

Addie Clark, who summarized the project’s parking analysis, said the applicant proposes 50 on‑site parking spaces and cited prevailing industry data and a traffic study by Randy Cohen that, they said, showed the imaging use would generate lower peak vehicle turnover than a typical medical office. Clark noted an informal arrangement with a church across the street for overflow parking at times that do not conflict with church peak hours.

Multiple neighbors and local stakeholders urged caution. Patrick Chimino, chair of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association’s land‑use committee, said similar uses can produce widely varying parking demand and that diagnostic and clinical services can create higher turnover. “Inadequate parking is rampant in the historic district, and it creates a hardship for the community,” Chimino said.

Other residents raised safety and operational concerns: narrow streets and peak traffic congestion leading to Davis Island, lack of an on‑site delivery bay for frequent medical supplies, and the difficulty of relying on a terminable, informal parking agreement with a religious institution.

Staff and the applicant addressed several technical matters in response to the criticism. Ron Vila, staff for historic preservation, said the application as presented is consistent with the code sections the commission reviews and noted that some waivers shown on older plans from a 2005 PD approval would not carry forward to a new PD unless the same uses were requested. Sam Thomas from development coordination clarified that a rezoning to a new PD would replace the 2005 PD; prior waivers tied to the earlier PD for multifamily development would not automatically carry forward if multifamily is not a requested use in the new PD.

Commission discussion focused on whether the application appropriately balances hospital needs with neighborhood impacts. Commissioners asked for clarity that the 50‑space layout is real and enforceable; the applicant said transportation staff had reviewed the plan and that, operationally, Tampa General could use off‑campus spaces and shuttle services if necessary to avoid neighborhood impacts.

The commission voted to recommend approval of the rezoning to City Council, while specifically asking council to consider the parking reduction request carefully in light of neighbors’ concerns. The motion and recommendation will appear on the City Council agenda at first reading next week.