Planning Commission Workshop on Welty Development Micro-Hospital - August 12, 2026
Planning Commission Workshop on Welty Development Micro-Hospital - August 12, 2026
The Gahanna Planning Commission held a workshop on August 12, 2026, to discuss a proposed micro-hospital by Welty Development in partnership with Nutex Health. The meeting began at 5:47 PM and adjourned at 6:28 PM. No formal applications were submitted; the workshop provided an informal dialogue between the Commission and the applicant. Chair Sarah Pollyea noted that no public comment would be taken.
Discussion Items
- Project Overview: Tom Charek, President of Welty Development, presented plans for a 23,000-square-foot, single-story micro-hospital on approximately 2.5 acres zoned Neighborhood Commercial (NC) at the corner of Hamilton Road and Beecher Road. The facility would operate 24/7, provide private-pay and private-insurance medical services (including planned procedures and overnight stays for up to three to four patient rooms), and would not function as an emergency room or high-traffic business. Nutex Health operates over 70 similar facilities nationwide.
- Site Plan Preferences: Multiple Commissioners (Shapaka, Mako, Suriano, Laser) expressed preference for Site Plan Option Two, which provides a greater setback and buffer from the adjacent residential neighborhood to the south. Director Blackford noted that current code would likely require the building to be placed closer to the street, with parking to the side and rear.
- Traffic and Access: The Hamilton Road access would be right-in/right-out due to the median. Commissioners raised concerns about Beecher Road traffic, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up hours (7:30–8:30 AM and 3:00–4:00 PM). Mr. Charek emphasized that the facility’s boutique model would not generate concentrated peak-hour traffic. Both access points would be constructed simultaneously.
- Screening and Landscaping: Commissioners Tamarkin and Greenberg discussed the need for screening from the residential properties, especially in winter when vegetation thins. Mr. Charek noted the HOA had shared that visibility is seasonal, and the applicant would evaluate and address year-round screening with landscaping or fencing, while avoiding disturbance of slopes and stormwater areas.
- Lighting and Noise: Mr. Charek stated the building would have 24-hour lighting but would be designed to minimize light pollution toward residences. Medical transport vehicles would not use lights or sirens; emergency ambulance visits have occurred only once in ten years across all Nutex facilities.
- Conditional Use and Next Steps: Director Blackford confirmed the use would require a Conditional Use and Development Plan approval. Mr. Charek indicated the applicant would close on the property within four months, aim for Planning Commission, design, and permitting by year-end, and begin construction by spring 2027.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were taken; the workshop served as a preliminary discussion.
- Commissioners provided strong support for the project concept, contingent on addressing community concerns about screening, lighting, and traffic.
- Chair Pollyea encouraged continued outreach to the HOA and neighboring retirement community, noting that resident input would be critical at future public hearings.
- The applicant committed to attending the HOA meeting scheduled in four days and to visiting the site in winter to assess visibility.
- The Commission expressed a clear preference for Site Plan Option Two due to its improved buffer from residential properties.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everybody. Um, we are gonna go ahead and call this meeting to order. This is a uh Planning Commission workshop. It is 5 45 on Wednesday, August 12th, 2026. Um, just to note who is here this evening. Um, I guess Mr. Shapaka, did you just want me to read everyone? Okay, Mr. Shapaka, Mr. Mako, myself, Sarah Pollier, uh, Miss Lazer, Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Umarkin. That's everybody, and we Mr. Soriano is absent this evening. Um anything else? Okay. Um just a reminder. Um, this is a workshop. There's no public comment tonight. Um, it's gonna be 45 minutes this evening. We'll start with the administration for a presentation, and then we'll open it up to our visitors tonight to uh give us a presentation as to what they would like to discuss. So without further ado, Director Blackford. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Uh Michael Blackford, Director of Planning. And before uh turning over to uh the applicant and planning commission, just a few words I'd like to say. One is as you just said, Madam Chair, you know, a reminder that the workshop is uh really an opportunity for Planning Commission and the applicants to um have a dialogue that you really can't normally have in a in a normal planning commission kind of meeting. So it's a great opportunity to ask questions of all sizes and shapes and get that information that might uh benefit you uh in the future when we have applications. Um so as of right now, uh we do not have any applications uh submitted if they choose to move forward with the the project. Uh most likely uh they would be before planning commission with a development plan and probably a conditional use and and a variance. Uh and after that, then they would go into engineering and and building permits. So there's more opportunities for engagement, whether it's planning commission, staff, or or the public. And it's really at those planning commission hearings that's the most appropriate time for the for really staff and obviously the uh uh the public to be involved and and have words tonight about the uh project. Uh this site's a little um different than some of the other sites that we've uh seen in the past, and so just to make sure that we're all aware where we're at, have a uh zoning map up here and the kind of zoom out of this screen here. When it comes in here, you can see the properties on Hamilton Road to the uh top of my screen to the north there. You have giant eagle and in Stone Ridge. Uh here is uh Beecher Crossing. This is greater as someone pointed out earlier. And right here, this lower half of the parcel, that's the one that we're here uh talking uh tonight about. The property is zone neighborhood commercial, neighborhood commercial allows for a wide array of commercial activities, uh very similar kind of uses like we might see just down the street from us at the shops of Rocky Fork, where your typical uses are gonna be restaurant, medical, and and retail. Uh the types of uses that aren't permitted are more of a uh auto-related kind of uses, those require the more intense uh general commercial zoning. Um so there is some project history on this site that I think is relevant for uh discussions, whether it's tonight or or in the future. There were a couple of applications submitted on this property. Uh, one of those was a development plan submitted in 2018, and there was another development plan submitted in 2019. Um I believe Mr. Soriano was on on the planning commission for both of those applications, and then the uh Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Tamarkin were on planning commission for the 2019, and I will show the 2018 project here real quickly, so you have an idea of what was approved by Planning Commission because oops, that's not right. Let's go to this one. All right, so on your screen right here, and north is actually on the left of the screen. Um east is towards the top here.
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