An emergency room concept will have to wait a few more weeks before it starts to operate in Flower Mound, if it is able to at all.
Town council voted Monday to push Total Care ER’s request for a specific use permit allowing the emergency room concept to operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to a later date.
It is proposed to occupy a 7,980-square-foot space in a shopping center along FM 1171, Fireside Drive and Arrowhead Drive.
Most council members liked Total Care ER’s proposal, but advised the applicant to do some more outreach with neighboring residences and communicate with them about concerns.
While considered an emergency room concept, the town considers the project a medical office because it will not perform surgeries and does not receive any patients.
That means no ambulances will be arriving to the center, and only one will be stationed at the center in case a patient needs to be transported to a local hospital.
However, those transports almost never use lights and sirens, according to the applicant’s presentation at Flower Mound’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
Member Clare Harris, a registered nurse, was supportive of the concept the work done the facility does, but wasn’t convinced it was the best proposal after the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial and neighbors spoke out against the project.
“When this [planned development], the intent was low impact to the neighbors,” said member Clare Harris. “I appreciate that these are good community partners and do a lot of good work in the facility, but I’m not sure the extended hours with the opposition that this is the right thing.”
However, many council members believe nearby residents should have the final say on the project and if it suits what they would consider low impact.
P&Z was split on the decision. Commissioners appreciated the nearby care that the proposal provides, and the fact that it would not bring with it a lot of noise or traffic, but was concerned that it might not be the type of business the town had in mind when approving the plot’s planned development.
“I love the business and everything y’all do, and it makes a lot of sense in this area, but you’re not asking for an SUP from me, or my approval,” said Mayor Pro Tem Adam Schiestel. “As long as the neighbors don’t show up in opposition, there’s no problem, but when they do, it is a problem.”
According to council, many nearby residents wrote in opposition to the plan. Council believes the applicant should reach out to those residents and explain their business model, which council believes is not nearly as impactful as an emergency room that receives patients at all hours of the night with loud sirens and bright lights.
P&Z was also concerned about the possibility that this project falls through or changes hands soon after the SUP is granted and could open up the neighbors to a concept that is not so friendly for the neighbors.
However, Flower Mound Director of Development Services Lexin Murphy did some research and said this specific proposal would not be able to turn into something as trauma-focused as that.
“There is not a possibility this could change hands next year and all of a sudden, there are ambulances coming in an out all the time,” she said.
A new town council date has not been set, yet, but when the proposal does return, it will need to pass with a supermajority vote since P&Z recommended denial. That means it will need four council members to vote in favor to move on.
