Thomas Hospital may be growing. Gulf Health Hospitals Inc., doing business as Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, is trying to get approved for construction of a four-story addition. The site plan went before the Fairhope Planning Commission Monday, June 3.

The addition to Thomas Hospital would be constructed in the northwest corner of the property at the intersection of Morphy Avenue and South Ingleside Avenue. It would include a ground-level parking garage, a 25-bed second floor and two additional floors that would be developed later. The project also includes the installation of sidewalks on Morphy Avenue extending to Hospital Drive and a new crosswalk at the intersection of Hospital Drive and Morphy Avenue. Additionally, there is a discussion about the desirability of a signalized crosswalk at the mid-block Ingleside crosswalk.

One of the main topics of discussion among the planning commission members and Hunter Simmons, City of Fairhope Planning director, was parking concerns. The project proposes 49 parking spaces in the parking deck, 34 spaces to replace existing spaces being lost to the building's construction and 15 new spaces. The members of the commission were concerned with the lack of parking spaces being added to the hospital's current parking issues. Simmons said additional parking for the upper floors will be addressed in future phases when the floors are set to be developed.

Helipad Request

The Fairhope Volunteer Fire Department has requested the hospital consider installation of a rooftop helipad on the new addition to replace a previous one that was removed during an earlier parking expansion. The request has yet to be addressed by Gulf Health Hospitals Inc.

Landscape Concerns

The site for the addition is tight, and the B-2 zoning only requires a 20-foot setback requirement. Members of the planning commission had questions about the removal of four bald cypress trees that are not in the footprint of the building. Those on the planning commission said they wanted to make sure the trees and plants being used would soften the height of the new addition and that the trees would be substantial enough.

Utility Relocation

Before the project can begin, utilities will need to be relocated. Utilities affected include the relocation of poles, wires, water lines and underground electricity. A plan for high voltage power lines to be run down Morphy in the future will now be put underground according to Simmons. He said the lines would be run under the sidewalk to allow for ease of maintenance and to keep the lines out of the landscaping.

The planning commission recommended conditional approval of the site plan to Fairhope City Council with the conditions that included:

• A revised landscape plan to be approved by the city horticulturalist and tree committee chair;
• Plans for relocating stormwater and utilities;
• Address the helipad request;
• Required parking, compliant with Table 4-3 of the zooming ordinance, shall be provided before the build-out of the proposed tower; and
• Update site data table.

The site plan will go before Fairhope City Council at a future council meeting.