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excluding medical -related offices and optical firms from the PRO <br />district; 2) Allow medical -related offices and optical firms in <br />the PRO district by right, impose no special performance related <br />criteria; 3) Permit medical - related offices and optical firms <br />as conditional uses, imposing specific criteria for the <br />establishment of such uses in the PRO district. <br />After discussion, the a lanning and Zoning Commission concurred <br />with the staff recommendation to permit medical - related offices <br />and optical firms in the PRO district. The Commission voted 6-0 <br />to recommend permitting medical - related offices and optical <br />firms as permitted uses, with additional wording to clarify that <br />a medical office featuring 24 - hour treatment facilities is not <br />included as a permitted use under this amendment. <br />ALTERNATIVES & ANALYSIS <br />The staff's original objection to allowing medical offices in the <br />PRO district was based on the characteristics of medical uses. <br />Compared to professional offices, medical offices have more <br />extensive impacts. These include more traffic, more activity, <br />and increased parking requirements. While professional offices <br />have characteristics more like multi -family residential in terms <br />of trips and activity, medical offices generally exhibit <br />characteristics more like commercial facilities with regard to <br />attracting clients, providing parking, and generating activity. <br />In order to ensure that PRO uses would be compatible with <br />adjacent residential areas, the staff recommended that medical <br />offices not be allowed in the PRO district. <br />° Alternatives <br />In examining the present request to allow medical offices in the <br />PRO district, staff identified three alternatives. The first is <br />to do nothing. This would be accomplished by denying the subject <br />request and continuing to prohibit medical offices in the PRO <br />district. The second alternative is to allow medical offices in <br />the PRO district as a permitted use. This would allow medical <br />offices to be established in the PRO district without any special <br />review or compliance with specific performance related criteria. <br />The third alternative is to permit medical offices in the <br />district as a conditional use, either as an administrative permit <br />or special exception. This would require medical offices <br />proposed for the PRO district to comply with specific performance <br />related criteria and, in the case of special exceptions, two <br />public hearings. <br />° Analysis <br />In analyzing the three alternatives, staff consulted the staff of <br />the City of Vero Beach Planning Department. The City has the <br />POI, Professional Office and Institutional, zoning district which <br />currently permits medical offices by right. According to the <br />city staff, medical office uses do not cause any special <br />problems in the POI district and do not adversely affect adjacent <br />residential areas. Based upon the city's experience with medical <br />offices in POI district, it appears that medical offices can be <br />situated in the PRO district with minimal impacts. For that <br />reason, the staff felt that alternative one, retaining the <br />present medical office prohibition in the PRO district, was not <br />desirable. <br />25 <br />N O V 11988 <br />BOLI. 75 pLE <br />