Hialeah board approves special‑use permit for outpatient biomedical research center with restrictions

The Hialeah Planning and Zoning Board voted 5–0 on June 10, 2026, to recommend approval of a special‑use permit allowing an outpatient biomedical research center at 6815 W. 4th Ave., units 6867–6871, as an auxiliary use to an existing medical office.

Staff told the board the facility, proposed by Moscoso Biomedical Research LLC, would operate during business‑hours (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m.–noon; closed Tuesdays and Sundays), employ three staff and serve about five research participants per day. Staff recommended approval subject to a declaration of restrictions that would limit the use to outpatient clinical research, prohibit overnight stays, require compliance with building permits and require the applicant to return for review if it sought expansion or intensified uses.

Board members pressed the applicant on safety safeguards and the nature of the studies. Barbara Moscoso, the applicant’s representative, described the planned activities as pharmaceutical clinical trials that follow sponsor protocols and monitoring. She said samples are typically collected and sent to commercial laboratories for processing and that the studies proposed would not include on‑site viral culturing or animal testing. “We are not talking about virus being studied in the in the place or, bacterias to be, tested in patients or, animals,” Moscoso said, adding that most trials are limited to oral or injectable medications with monitoring periods of about 30 minutes to one hour.

Several board members and a resident pressed for limits. A neighbor, Nancy Navarro, opposed the request during public comment, saying the term “biomedical” was too broad and expressing concern about impacts on residents living above the commercial units. “Bio means many things… This biomedical they submit is too broad for considerations,” Navarro said, asking the board to require more detail or deny the permit.

The board and a legal representative recommended narrowing the permit. A legal department representative proposed language limiting the site to “pharmaceutical and device clinical trials” and banning invasive medical procedures on site; the board incorporated scope limits and procedural safeguards into the approval. The clerk set the next review step: the planning board’s recommendation will go to the city council, which will consider the item on June 23, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

The permit approval is a recommendation; final authority rests with the city council. Under the staff conditions, any expansion beyond the activities represented would require the applicant to return to public hearings and to provide notice to neighbors.