Flower Hospital lighting can stay, mayor says

The green lights around Flower Hospital, added this year, are objectionable to some nearby residents, but Mayor Craig Stough determined that they can stay. THE BLADE Enlarge | Buy This Photo

Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough told the City Council Tuesday that the president of ProMedica’s Flower Hospital, Alan Sattler, does not plan to make the exterior green lighting on the facility brighter, but when asked if he would turn off the lights, his answer was “neither yes or a no.”

Mr. Sattler said he would “keep the lights at 50 percent power,” Mr. Stough said of his recent meeting with the head of the hospital on Harroun Road.

The lighting added to the hospital this year has been opposed by nearby residents, who say it is intrusive in their homes at night and that it is unacceptable because it looks Vegas-like. After hearing initial objections, the hospital did dim the lights to 50 percent of the original brightness.

The City of Sylvania’s law director said at a June 4 council meeting that he determined the hospital’s new lighting does not fit the definition of a sign, under the existing code. The hospital obtained a required electrical permit from the Lucas County Building Regulations office, but it did not file an application for a sign permit for the installation of the lighting. However, the city determined that the lighting was not a sign and thus did not need such a permit.

Some area residents, such as Jim and Nancy Ike, who live directly across from the hospital, have been working to get the lights turned off. They were not satisfied with the mayor’s explanation this week.

“Companies come and go, but the community stays,” Mrs. Ike said. “These green signs at Flower must come down.”

Mayor Stough let Mr. Ike speak again at the meeting, but warned him that he would be allowed to present only new information regarding the case.

“You don’t want to keep seeing my face. I can sense that,” Mr. Ike said. After allowing him four minutes of discussion, Mr. Stough declared that Mr. Ike had no new information to present.

Some area residents say they were not disturbed by the lighting.

“They don’t affect me one way or the other. There are people in that neighborhood who live with the lights just fine,” said resident Norm Koenigseker, who lives on Oakland Court, which intersects with Harroun across from the hospital.

Contact Kelly McLendon at: kmclendon@theblade.com or 419-206-0356.