Proposed Naples Heart Institute “delays” are frustrating locals.

Locals have expressed concerns about the length of time the city is taking to review a proposed downtown heart and stroke institute for Naples Community Hospital.

In order for the planned Heart and Stroke Institute to be constructed at the downtown NCH site, the NCH Healthcare System started collaborating with the city around May 2021. The city council passed an ordinance in June 2021 that set a three-story ceiling for buildings in commercial zoning districts.

Subsequently, the project has undergone several months of public workshops, public hearings, meetings with the review board, and planning advisory board meetings, according to a recent article by Lydia Nusbaum of Florida’s Voice.

Advocates for the Heart Institute argued that the facility was necessary to give patients urgent and vital care, but some downtown residents apparently objected to a taller structure so close to the residential homes.

The hospital agreed to reduce the building’s height from six floors to five, as well as its square footage, move the parking space closer to the street, and add additional landscaping, according to the chairman of NCH’s board of directors, during the negotiations.

In August 2022, the Naples City Council had already voted in favor of adding “community hospital” terminology to the public services zoning category.

The Planning Advisory Board advised NCH to request a rezone of the land in November 2023 so that it would be possible to build to a height greater than the city’s permitted maximum of three stories.

But according to a city official, the advisory board postponed the rezoning decision until its meeting on December 13, claiming insufficient information to recommend approval.

A city representative stated that the board is seeking further information about parking, signs, traffic, and the reasons behind the height change.

According to NCH President and CEO Paul Hiltz, “We feel that our proposed heart, vascular, and stroke institute has been stalled for quite some time.” The organization sent a statement to Florida’s Voice.

Hiltz stated that NCH had promptly submitted the city’s “demands” for surveys and studies.

Hiltz added, “But they keep asking for some of the same things that we have already provided in good faith, and for others, it seems like the city has changed the goal post-tacking on new requests that NCH needs to finish before any more forward motion is made.”

There are no municipal taxes used to fund this project. The institute has received donations totaling about $100 million; NCH describes it as the “most philanthropically supported project” in the company’s history.

According to Hiltz, It has also been the longest-running project to get out of the gate in our history, even with the financial help.”

About 70% of NCH’s heart and stroke patients who need interventions reside no more than ten miles from Baker Hospital. The north campus of NCH is another possible location for the heart institute, according to the board chairman, although other locals think it would be too far away.

John Allen, a native of Naples, has organized protests in favor of the hospital by making placards that read, “A stroke is no time for a road trip.” City of Naples Council… Maintain NCH care in the downtown area!

Hundreds of signs were added on Naples neighborhood lawns.

“This is the result of a broad coalition of business executives and citizens who said, Enough is enough with this hospital.” Allen explained. “We all think the hospital has given in a lot, but there is nothing more they can do.”

This article originally appeared on Florida’s Voice.