Land Use Board tables zoning text amendment affecting hospital-area parcels, asks staff for December map-change background
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Summary
The Livingston City Land Use Board on Feb. 11 voted unanimously to table a proposed text amendment to Chapter 30 affecting Light Industrial and Industrial districts, requesting staff to return March 11 with background on a December map change that rezoned parcels near the hospital.
The Livingston City Land Use Board unanimously voted on Feb. 11 to table consideration of a zoning text amendment that would change allowable uses in the city’s Light Industrial and Industrial districts and asked staff to return to the board with background on a Dec. 16, 2025 map change affecting parcels near the hospital. The board set a continuation for the consolidated Land Use Board meeting on March 11, 2026.
Jennifer, the city planner, told the board the amendment was intended to align Chapter 30 text with map changes the city commission adopted in December. She summarized the key proposed changes: "Multifamily dwelling and coliving housing uses were modified from allowed by right to not allowed in the Light Industrial District," and the "hospital and institution" use would move from not allowed in Industrial to allowed by right; medical and dental clinics would move from requiring a conditional-use permit to being allowed by right in Industrial. Jennifer said the proposal also creates a separate development-standards table for Light Industrial and Industrial that would carry the same numeric setbacks and heights the commission adopted in December.
Bruce Whitfield, chief executive officer of Livingston Healthcare, spoke in favor of the changes, saying the hospital has outgrown its current site. "We've already we've been in the hospital for 10 years now. We've already outgrown it, so we're actually looking at expanding," Whitfield said, urging that medical uses be allowed without a lengthy conditional-use process.
Online commenter Tim Watson asked about buffer-zone rules between residential and industrial uses and whether allowing the hospital in Industrial would permit retirement or assisted-living facilities. Jennifer replied that the city code includes context-sensitive landscaping and screening requirements rather than a single numeric buffer distance citywide; she said adult foster care and assisted living remain allowed in Light Industrial but were not the focus of the current staff direction to address multifamily and co‑living uses and hospital/clinic allowances.
Board members debated trade-offs between housing goals and hospital flexibility. Several members said keeping multifamily and co‑living in Light Industrial would preserve future housing options; others said that explicitly allowing hospital and medical uses in Industrial would make it easier for the hospital to expand. Members also raised floodplain and insurance constraints on some east-side parcels that could limit development regardless of zoning.
After discussion the board approved a motion to table consideration and asked staff to provide any available information on the December 16, 2025 map change — in particular the rationale for rezoning the parcels near the hospital from Light Industrial to Industrial and whether similar map adjustments affected other Light Industrial/Industrial parcels citywide. The board set the continuation for March 11, 2026. The motion was moved by board member Morris and seconded by the chair; the motion passed unanimously with the six voting members present.
The board’s action is advisory; any text amendment or map amendment would still require action by the Livingston City Commission. Staff said it would compile the commission discussion and any relevant materials for the March continuation.
