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Planners forward 8-story medical campus to City Council after neighbors demand stronger buffers and screening
Summary
The Planning Commission voted to move an 8-story medical office project and attached multi-level parking garage at Charleston and Westwood to City Council, asking the applicant to increase the south landscape buffer, tighten screening and address lighting and noise mitigation requested by nearby Scotch Eighties residents.
An 8-story, approximately 206,900-square-foot medical office project with a multi-level parking garage at the southeast corner of Charleston Boulevard and Westwood Drive was approved by the Planning Commission to be forwarded to City Council after commissioners negotiated additional design and mitigation commitments in response to neighborhood concerns.
Neighbors from the Scotch Eighties historic residential area told the commission the project’s scale — especially the parking garage that fronts Ellis/Westwood — would "hover over" backyards and reduce privacy, generate light pollution and noise, and intensify redevelopment pressure along Charleston. Several residents urged the commission to deny the rezoning or require a larger landscape buffer and more robust screening.
Architects for the applicant described the building and garage facades and said the team would work with staff to refine materials and screening. Commissioners asked the applicant to maximize the south landscape buffer adjacent to the residential neighborhood (targeting a substantive increase over the proposed 8-foot buffer), to provide staggered, fast-growing large shade trees (suggested 3–4 inch caliper standards), and to screen the entire south elevation of the garage so headlights and movement on deck levels are not visible from rear yards. Commissioners and staff also requested tightened material choices and additional study of light and noise mitigation for the garage (including surface-finish choices that can reduce tire squeal), and asked the applicant to coordinate changes with Public Works and Fire to preserve emergency access and acceptable curb/road sections. The project was approved to move forward to City Council with direction to return with revised plans and explicit mitigation commitments.
Commissioners emphasized the approval is conditional: the applicant agreed to revisit garage cladding, increase the landscaped buffer, stagger tree plantings and pursue light- and noise-mitigation strategies before City Council. The Planning Commission’s approval advances the project to the Aug. 19, 2026 City Council docket for final action.
