Planning board approves Encompass Health rehab hospital at former driving range; asks for plan correction and traffic follow-up

The Bangor City Planning Board unanimously approved a major site development permit and a Site Location of Development application (M.R.S.A. Title 38, section 484) on Feb. 18 for an Encompass Health inpatient rehabilitation hospital at 1017 Union Street.

Nut graf: The approved project calls for a single-story rehabilitation hospital totaling about 79,388 square feet on a roughly 17.5‑acre parcel, developed in two phases (50 beds in phase 1; 30 beds in phase 2 as required by a board condition). The board attached two explicit conditions: (1) the developer’s traffic engineer must assess the operation of the upgraded intersection six months after the facility opens and forward that assessment to the planning division and engineering department, and (2) the applicant must submit modified plans within 30 days showing Phase 2 as a 30-bed phase (the plans had an inconsistency that showed 40 beds in some sheets).

Jim Kaiser, the applicant’s project representative, described the site — a former driving range near the Airport Mall and adjacent commercial development — as approximately 17.5 acres. Kaiser said the project proposes an 80-bed rehabilitation hospital in two phases (targeting phase 1 completion in 2027 and phase 2 around 2028), with a circular access drive, three ambulance-capable delivery points, about 60 parking spaces and a stormwater pond designed to meet pre-development runoff rates because the site drains to Birch Stream, an impaired urban stream.

Kaiser also told the board the project requires a wetland crossing and anticipates “close to half an acre” of wetland impacts and associated state mitigation fees. He said water and sewer capacity letters are in the record and that the intersection at Union Street will be upgraded to a four-way signal as part of the project’s traffic mitigation.

Edmund Ball, Encompass Health’s chief real estate officer, confirmed the facility will operate as an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF). “This would be all, inpatient IRF patients,” Ball said, clarifying the patient level of care.

During public comment, Dr. Peter Keebler — a local physician and former head of inpatient rehab at Eastern Maine Medical Center — said he supports the availability of rehab services but questioned the facility’s scale given historical local censuses and Medicare admission criteria. Keebler said Eastern Maine’s unit had reduced its licensed beds before it closed and that patient admission rules and payer mix affect demand and staffing for IRF-level care.

Planning staff recommended a condition requiring the developer’s traffic engineer to monitor intersection performance six months after the facility opens; staff said that follow-up was proposed in the developer’s traffic memo and would help evaluate timing and signal settings once the facility is operating. The board added a second condition requiring corrected plans showing Phase 2 as 30 beds and directed the applicant to submit those revised plans within 30 days.

The motion to grant the major site development and site location permit, including the two conditions, passed on a unanimous roll-call vote. The board’s findings in the record cite compliance with relevant land development code standards and state site-location regulations.

Ending: With unanimous approval and the two conditions in place, Encompass Health may proceed with permitting and construction activities subject to state permitting for wetlands and the applicant’s timely submission of corrected construction drawings and the later traffic assessment.