John Collison, Ryan LeMasters, Greg Johnson, Jim Holik, Martin Pato, Marty Jones, Mario Imola, Charles Brantigan, Paul Benington, Michael Henry, Rick Wells, Carla Madison, Eugene Keyser, Cindy McConnell, Al Davis, Keely and Steve DeKoskie, Dave and Janice Webster.

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm. The minutes were read and approved as written.

Rick Wells announced that the unnamed hospital was, in fact, St. Joseph Hospital. St. Joseph Hospital now has the tract east of Ogden under contract and is now pursuing due diligence, a process believed to take about 60 days. Al Davis notes that St. Joseph Hospital has approval and money to purchase the land but no approval to build anything as yet.

Cherokee Development is in contact with St. Joseph Hospital to create design standards for the area. Al Davis notes that St. Joseph Hospital is looking forward to working with the neighborhood in planning the development of the new campus.

The plan is to move forward with the demolition. The demolition should start two to three months after Children’s Hospital moves out. Cherokee hopes to be performing abatement before the end of the year. The plan is that Tammen Hall will be "moth-balled" using historic standards. The Health Center and the garage will stay, and everything else will be leveled.

The tract west of Ogden is under contract with Trammel-Crowe residential. They are also in the due diligence process. There have been ongoing discussions with the neighborhood concerning design standards. The plan now is to rezone the property R-4-X in conjunction with the City’s recommendations. Design guidelines are being worked on at the present time between Cherokee and the neighbors. These will be incorporated as restrictions on the property.

Dr. Mario Imola presented a plan to build a medical office building on the corner. The OD-9 regulations create a height limitation that would have to be penetrated by the air conditioning unit. A variance to have a 10 foot setback rather than a 25 foot setback would be required as well. There was a general discussion at this point noting that the OD-9 overlay zone was created for a specific reason, and that was to preserve the residential appearance of the block, understanding that medical offices would be use by right in the existing buildings. Mike Henry reminded the group that Dr. Imola’s request was more like a rezoning than an application for a variance. He also emphasized that in order to grant such a variance, the Board of Adjustment would have to understand that absence of the variance would cause a severe hardship. The conclusion is that the group supports the OD-9 overlay to the R-4 zoning in that area and encourages construction which fits within those restrictions. After Dr. Imola left, the suggestion was made that perhaps Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center should sell the old Medical Administration site between Vencor and Midtown Surgery Center to Dr. Imola because his proposed building would fit nicely in that site, and at that site would be an asset to the community.

Ryan LeMasters reported that the construction site for the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children has been hydroseeded in the past, but that didn’t help very much since it was followed by extremely hot weather. He is uncertain what the hospital plans to do at this point. Concerning the parking lot on the east side of High Street, the site of the old Medical Administration Company Office, the proposal has been made that gravel be spread there to eliminate mud and dust. None of these ideas was greeted with great enthusiasm.

Paul Benington reports that the amended application for OD9 zoning has been submitted. Application has been made to Ken Strapko for a fee waiver. At a neighborhood assembly, there was overwhelming support for the OD-9 zone. A possible contentious part of this proposal involves the inclusion of 100 feet or so of H-2 property on 20^th Avenue. This is to be withdrawn from the application if there is agreement of design guidelines between the neighborhood association and Cherokee partners and Trammel-Crowe Residential. The OD-9 overlay has been officially supported by CHUN.

Michael Henry reports that there are meetings scheduled concerning wording for residential districts under the new zoning code. After these meetings are held, the Committee will be working to get the wording for the new zoning language accomplished this year. After that, the wording needs to be approved through the City’s legislative process. Rezoning of these residential properties would then begin and would be a significant project.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.

Charles O. Brantigan, MD, FACS

Chairman, Hospital District Urban Design Forum

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