Full-time medical clinic violates code for Medina residential neighborhood

Posted 6 December 2021 at 8:37 am

Editor:

An out-of-town organization from western NY has purchased a private medical doctor’s office on West Center Street and Florence Avenue in our residential neighborhood. It is unclear if their plans are to open a clinic similar to their other locations.

However, this conflicts with the “use” variance issued in 1977 that restricts the use to private practice of medicine for only “1” medical doctor in this facility previously known as Dr. Bath’s office. Putting a clinic at this site is in conflict with the use variance. The neighborhood has contacted the code officer and talked to several people on the Board of Appeals.

We have no objection to this clinic coming to Medina since it is quite needed but to try to squeeze a full-time clinic into this office brings too much traffic, activity, and noise to our residential area. When the “use” variance was first approved in 1977 to allow an independent MD office in the neighborhood, MDs spent only part of their time in their offices.

If you remember, doctors used to do “rounds” on their patients so some of their valuable time was committed to their patients in the hospital! They did not ever work full-time out of their medical offices. As MDs moved out of the hospital setting in the last 5-10 years, they now spend all their time in the office seeing more patients. This brings an uptake of activity to the medical office setting.

This official code restriction of one MD practicing in this office location assured limited traffic/activity for the private use of a medical office in our solely residential neighborhood. This also potentially offers accountability to the neighborhood.

We do not think that one MD equals one clinic. Since the official village code/use variance in place aims to protect the character of the neighborhood, we respectfully insist that the code be honored, in letter and in spirit.

Thank you.

Concerned neighbors,

Sharon Cassidy

Pamela Cook

Medina