P&Z Watch: Greenwich Hospital Smilow Cancer Center Application Unanimously Approved

On Tuesday, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning commission voted unanimously 4-0 on the third and final application from Greenwich Hospital for a their Smilow Cancer canter.

Specifically, the approval was for a final site plan and special permit to renovate the Watson and Cohen pavilions to accommodate their use as the new Smilow Cancer Center.

Previously the hospital had proposed to build a large new building on the opposite side of Lake Ave that would have replaced a row of houses the hospital owns. Those proposals were denied. Twice.

Ms Alban noted that the way the regulations are written for the hospital zones requires the applicant to return to the commission when remodeling affects more than 20,000 sq ft in the H1 or H2 zones.

The proposal that was approved was for the new Smilow Cancer Center to be located inside the existing walls of the Greenwich Hospital, made possible by farming out existing medical uses to satellite locations including 500 West Putnam, 49 Lake or 56 Lafayette.

According to the motion to approve, the valet parking program is to be re-established and re-started. There would be an estimated 30 new positions in the building which the hospital’s parking garages can absorb in conjunction with the valet parking program.

Previously, in June, the commission voted to approve the first two of the three Smilow applications. Those were for 38 Lake Ave and 3 Perryridge.

The vote on the application approved this week was delayed by P&Z commission to give time to think about possible conditions concerning a potential increase in trips, traffic and parking demand both on-street and off-street.

After a motion to approve was made, commissioner Peter Lowe noted considerable time had been spent discussing those factors, and recommended adding a requirement that the hospital return to the commission to follow up on those concerns.

“We’re not soothsayers,” he said. “So I thought given the concerns, that we should perhaps include some mechanism to weigh in at some point, or points, after a certain passage of time – a year or two years – to assess whether there have been any detrimental changes occasioned by this application.”

“The parking is essential,” Alban said. “I don’t think you can do much about the traffic. If you hit a home-run with the number of clients you get, you hit a home-run and that’s that. We knew that. The issue is, is there enough parking because that could be addressed somehow. I hate to say it, but they could add a parking structure. That may be a better outcome one day than have people circling looking for parking.”

Mr. Lowe said all three – traffic, sufficiency of parking and pedestrian safety – were interrelated.

Commissioner Arn Welles suggested the hospital return with data one year of receiving certificate of occupancy.

Mr. Lowe said there should be a review later than that as well.

“It may take time for them to build up a large patient base. We should do it after a year, and again after two or three years,” Lowe said. “It may take a while for issues to appear.”

“We have anecdotal information that people go and can’t find parking right now and we don’t know how that’s going to shake out,” Alban said. “We also know about the Greenwich Avenue from existing research that a lot of traffic comes from folks circling,”

The commission settled on the hospital returning with a post occupancy analysis after both one year and 2 years after certificate of occupancy, including traffic, pedestrian safety, and on-street and off-street parking conditions.

Seated and voting in favor of the application were Nick Macri, Arn Welles, Peter Lowe and Margarita Alban.

After the vote to approve, Bob Robert Blenderman, PA, MBA, president of Greenwich Hospital provided a quote via email.

“We appreciate the Planning and Zoning Committee’s thoughtful review and are fully committed to meeting the conditions they’ve outlined,” Blenderman said. “Reporting back on parking, pedestrian safety and traffic aligns with our broader mission of ensuring a seamless and safe experience for every patient and visitor while ensuring the safety of the community we are embedded within.”

“Greenwich Hospital cares deeply about the patient safety and experience and we’re proud to be ranked among the top hospitals in the nation in this area,” Blenderman continued. “Every patient is surveyed post-visit by an independent organization, and we use that feedback to constantly improve and uphold the highest standards of care.”