Legacy medical center moves to lock in Tualatin zoning change
Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center is making a move to secure its future expansion by requesting a change in land designation.
At the Nov. 9 Tualatin City Council meeting, the council heard a presentation from Legacy requesting that a 20-acre parcel of land adjacent to the hospital at 19300 S.W. 65th Ave. be changed form residential zoning to medical center zoning.
Council members showed support for the change after public testimony and discussion, on the condition that a development agreement be reached between the city and Legacy Health Systems to ensure public requests regarding building height and traffic on nearby roads, among other issues, be honored in the future. City staff plans to negotiate the agreement over the next two months and bring it back to council for a vote on Jan. 10.
The change would make it easier for Legacy to expand onto the land west of the hospital grounds it bought in 2003, though when that expansion might happen is not clear.
Allyson Anderson, Chief Administration Officer at Legacy Meridian Park, said that the hospital was pushing for a zoning change now because they wanted to avoid future rule changes that might make such a switch more difficult. She said that there were no specific plans for expansion of hospital grounds at this time.
“(Legacy) can’t tell you what the expansion is going to be or when it is going to happen,” said Thomasina Gabriele, a development consultant for Legacy, at the meeting. “The hospital, like the rest of us, has to be able to respond to market changes as they occur. This change will make that easier.”
During the public comment period, nearby residents indicated support of the change, but were concerned that future expansion might make their neighborhood streets significantly busier. Anderson assured council members that the hospital had no intention of utilizing side streets, and planned to keep traffic on 65th Avenue into the future.
Linda Moholt, the Tualatin Chamber of Commerce CEO, gave support to the plan.
“I think about how much that campus has meant to our community,” she said of Legacy Meridian Park. “I just feel that we are blessed to have them here, and we need to let them expand.”