NCH needs special exception to build heart institute

NCH Healthcare System wants to build a state-of-the-art heart institute in Naples, but there’s one issue: The building to house that facility needs a special exception for its construction, which Naples city leaders will have to discuss at a council meeting.

Naples city law does not currently allow for buildings in that area to be taller than 42 feet and the proposed NCH heart institute would exceed that. At a city council meeting on March 2, city leaders discussed amending the city’s building height regulations and directed staff to return to their city council meeting on March 23 with a draft ordinance for first reading to amend the definition of commercial zoning districts.

In a letter included in the agenda for Tuesday’s workshop, Paul Hiltz, CEO and president of NCH, told city leaders that NCH has decided to refine its proposal and not rezone anything other than the original NCH campus. Hiltz says after speaking with the community, they were on board with the project but had one suggestion, in particular.

“‘Is there any way you can reduce the height, we understand that you can’t probably do it at 42 feet, but what can you do?’ So, we quickly got back here with the architects and engineers and found a creative way to get the building down to five stories by making the building slightly deeper in the back of our campus,” Hiltz said. “We really, at this point, think that the path we’re on is the right path to get the districting voted on, to get it to the path, to keep going on the path we’ve been on for a year.”

Hiltz will lay out NCH’s plans for the facility at Tuesday’s meeting. WINK News reached out to the Naples City Council for comment, but a spokesperson says that since this topic may go before the council as a quasi-judicial hearing, comments and interviews will not be offered beforehand.

“There is no variance allowed in the City of Naples,” Hiltz said. “Based on an ordinance that was passed several years ago, we’ve been taking their lead… the biggest thing I’ve been trying to do, and I’ll try to do it again, is be very clear, so there’s no confusion about what we’re asking for. We’re asking for one building. It’s five stories, it’s located next to our existing hospital. It will bring world-class heart care to Naples.”

Hiltz says that after more than a year of meetings with city staff, architects, engineers and community members, one thing he knows for sure is that the community wants this institute to be built—it’s just a matter of figuring out a way to get it done.