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Plan commission delays rezoning request for proposed East Toledo community health center
Summary
HealthPartners, a federally qualified health center, sought rezoning for a 23,000-square-foot clinic at 815 Navarre Ave.; commissioners deferred the request 60 days to allow direct neighborhood outreach and additional community meetings.
The Toledo City Plan Commission on Feb. 1 deferred a rezoning request from HealthPartners of Western Ohio that would allow construction of a 23,000-square-foot East Toledo community health center at 815 Navarre Avenue.
HealthPartners CEO Janice Sutterhouse told the commission the nonprofit, a federally qualified health center, purchased the site and has $200,000 already invested and funding in place to construct a clinic she said could serve about 6,000 new patients and provide roughly 15,000 primary-care visits annually. "Our goal is to be in the neighborhoods where poor people live so they actually have access to us," Sutterhouse said during her presentation.
Commissioners said they supported the mission but expressed concern that a zoning change to a mixed commercial-residential classification would remain if the clinic later closed or relocated, potentially allowing other commercial uses inconsistent with the surrounding low-density neighborhood. Commissioner Ball summarized the dilemma: zoning changes remain after a use changes, and that permanence prompted requests for stronger neighborhood engagement before approval.
After extended discussion about neighborhood impacts — including traffic, lighting, parking and buffering — Commissioner Paul moved to defer the case 60 days so the applicant could hold another public meeting and make an effort to contact adjacent neighbors in person; Commissioner Whittington seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The applicant agreed to the delay and to return with an update on outreach; the commission said it would expect a report rather than a full rehearing when the case returns.
The commission discussed alternatives such as reviewing the proposal as a special use permit or a community center-type application, which would allow the commission to place use conditions, but staff explained certain conditional-zoning approaches are not legal under local code. Commissioners also suggested the applicant pursue a minor site-plan review if the commission later judged it warranted.
Sutterhouse described the proposed facility as a full-service, neighborhood-based clinic with medical, dental, behavioral health and urgent-care services open evenings and Saturdays; she said the project would create an estimated 68 jobs and an annual payroll of about $5.7 million. Neighbors and an owner of a nearby jewelry business asked questions about parking and landscape screening; one adjacent owner urged more direct outreach to immediate abutters. Sutterhouse said she would do door-to-door canvassing and provide petitions and meeting summaries to the planning staff and council committee.
Because the commission deferred rather than voted to deny or approve, no development approvals were granted and no site-plan review was completed. The commission instructed staff and the applicant to report back on community outreach when the case returns in roughly 60 days.
The deferral does not change federal or state designations referenced in the presentation; HealthPartners remains a federally qualified health center and the site is within a Census tract identified during the presentation as having high poverty and documented health disparities.
Planning staff said they would note the applicant’s outreach when they prepare the record for City Council if the case returns with a recommendation for approval.
