We, the undersigned, respectfully submit this petition to the Palm Beach Gardens City Council regarding UHS's requested modifications to the Alan B. Miller Medical Center’s master signage plan.

We support the hospital’s reported mission to provide reliable local healthcare and recognize that effective signage serves the public good. At the same time, we urge the Council to ensure the hospital’s growth does not come at the expense of the health and quality of life of its closest neighbors.

Homeowner Concerns

From daily experience as Alton residents, we know the following:

• Light Pollution: The proposed wall sign is more than double the approved size (233 → 505.59 sq. ft.), uses larger letters (3’-0” → 4’-6”), moves higher on the building (from the top floor window glazing to the roof-top screen wall), and is relocated (from the western façade, facing I-95, to the southeast elevation, facing directly into Alton backyards). This will intensify light intrusion into homes.
• Insufficient Mitigation: The plan to plant Sabal Palms offers little real screening. These palms lack dense canopies and will not adequately block light.
• Noise Impacts: While road noise is not directly the hospital’s responsibility, the new facility—with 156 beds (and approved capacity for 300 beds), a helipad, and a planned future four-story medical office building—will increase traffic and noise. Residents already report significant noise issues, and this concern is growing across community forums, both public and private, with newer residents joining the discussion.

The research is clear: both light and noise pollution harm physical and mental health. Left unaddressed, these issues risk undermining the hospital’s mission and detract from public benefit.

Our Request

With more than 900 homes in Alton and hundreds more homes in Artistry negatively impacted by the increased light and/or noise pollution, we respectfully ask the Council to:

• Deny approval to relocate the sign to the southeast elevation, and
• Condition approval of larger signage and higher placement on stronger, evidence-based mitigation:

1. Use effective tree screening. Replace or supplement the proposed 50 Sabal Palms (height: 40-50 feet) with 50 or more high, dense, and broad-canopy natives to provide year-round light blocking, e.g., Southern Live Oak (height: 60-80 feet), Southern Magnolia (height 60-80 feet), Southern Red Cedar (height: 30-50 feet), Bald Cypress (height: up to 150 feet)
2. Add noise-mitigating landscaping. Include a variety of native evergreen shrubs and hedges, that grow thick and dense, in sufficiently layered plantings to absorb sound, especially along I-95, e.g., Viburnum, Wax Myrtle, Hollies, Arborvitae, Podocarpus, Southern Magnolia, Cyrpess, Florida Privet, Clusia
3. Commit to maintenance. Ensure landscaping is maintained to minimum effective heights (10+ feet) for both light and noise reduction.

Summary

Alton welcomes the Alan B. Miller Medical Center as a vital community partner. We appreciate the compelling vision of a hospital that provides the local community with an oasis of care for health and wellbeing; a campus where doctors and hospital staff can walk along landscaped paths to clear their minds and restore their energy to meet the demands of caring for patients; and parkland that provides hospital visitors a soothing moment so they can bring calm to their family members who are in-hospital. Medical staff may find the value proposition of living and working in Alton very attractive. Together, we can ensure the living-in-Alton part of that equation is the best it can possibly be.

We believe taking action now with thoughtful, intentional landscaping choices will serve broad public benefit by:

• Protecting residents from increased light and noise pollution.
• Enhancing the hospital’s own campus environment for staff, patients, and visitors.
• Demonstrating the Council’s commitment to long-term community health, livability, and public good.

This is a reasonable, proportional request in the context of the hospital’s ambitious investment.

We urge the Council and hospital to work with us to ensure that the vision of Alton as a healthy, thriving community becomes reality for all.

Thank you for your consideration.