Geist Road clinic seeks permit to expand and approval for a lot it already built

A Fairbanks medical clinic whose rezone request deadlocked the borough Planning Commission this summer is back before the commission Tuesday asking to expand under a conditional use permit, along with a parking lot it built before getting a permit.

RDC, LLC, which owns the McKinley Orthopedics clinic on Geist Road, across the road from Hutchison High School, wants to tear down a former house it uses for offices and expand the main building to 15,567 square feet. Borough staff recommend approving it, with conditions.

The clinic sits partly in a Light Commercial zone, which allows commercial buildings up to 5,000 square feet without a conditional use permit. This summer, RDC asked the commission to rezone the property, and staff recommended denying it. They said the change would loosen protections for homes to the south, and suggested the owner might be able to expand without a rezone. The commission split 3-3 and put off a decision.

The bigger clinic would need more parking than it has. Staff calculate it needs 46 spaces. Its own lot has 20, and RDC also owns a 23-space lot across Ginko Road, according to the most recent zoning permit for that lot.

This summer RDC also cleared two more lots it owns across Ginko Road, put down gravel and installed vehicle plug-ins for employee parking, according to the staff reports. It did that without the conditional use permit that a parking lot needs in that zone, or a driveway permit. The borough opened a code enforcement case. RDC has since gotten two driveway permits and is now asking for the conditional use permit.

Staff recommend approving the lot too. Their conditions include a 15-foot strip of vegetation on the south side, culverts, restored drainage and limited lighting hours.

The neighbor directly south of the clinic asked for tall shrubbery, not trees, as a buffer to block sight and noise and to keep cars out. Staff recommend a 10-foot vegetative buffer there and no parking or driving in the clinic's south yard.