As one of the neighbors to the new hospital, I went to the meeting last Wednesday to have the neighborhood concerns addressed. Imagine my surprise when the meeting turned into an advertisement for the hospital services and their business, completely ignoring the few issues the neighborhood has had since the beginning.

We were promised that in exchange for our support that this group would work with us to ensure that the project would be developed in a manner that would visually blend into the neighborhood as well as the entrance to town, and would not disturb the neighbors in the adjacent homes.

We began the process with only three concerns but as of the Wednesday meeting, we can add a fourth. First, we asked that the widening of Trevino take place all at once since traffic at the Trevino and Saguaro intersection is bad enough without creating a bottleneck with a partial widening and pushing the parked cars into our neighborhood, as well as having the neighborhood endure multiple road projects.

Second, we asked that the building be designed with a Sonoran style blending into the neighborhood. We never saw elevations at the P&Z last May, but objected once we saw them at a meeting to gain our support before Council. We objected then and that design remains today even though our town staff sent them some very nice, appropriate design suggestions. Those were completely ignored and it looks like the empty Walgreen’s down on Shea. Fine for that location, inappropriate in our neighborhood.

Third, the wall between the hospital and the houses. Now they don’t want to build the wall and add the beeping noise from the ambulances backing up in the middle of the night.

What’s the lesson? Never believe any developer unless the promises are in writing.