A three-story dental clinic of nearly 20,000 square feet is set to become part of Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Vintage Park Campus with the approval of a conditional use permit from the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday night.

The new building will be adjacent to the medical facility that opened in December of 2023 near the Safeway supermarket. A written description of the project presented to the commission states “The exterior design of the building will match the existing façade of the SEARHC medical clinic on the adjacent lot. The materials are transparent resin and metal.”

“The proposed development promotes the public health, safety, and welfare by providing a central location for medical services including primary and urgent care, pediatrics, labs, imaging, behavioral health, optometry, and dental care,” the project description notes. “This is located within one of Juneau’s most populated areas and within 1,000 feet of the Valley Transit Center.

SEARHC currently has a Juneau dental clinic on Hospital Drive and offers dentistry services downtown at its Front Street Clinic.

Among the conditions SEARHC will need to meet for its new clinic are agreements with the adjacent First Bank building for shared use of its parking lot, and with neighboring property owners to ensure a private road and sidewalk are properly maintained — with winter access a particular concern of commission members.

SEARHC is also building employee housing on a nearby lot, and a steady stream of employees and patients flowing between the health care facilities, supermarket and other buildings in the area is inevitable, said Lacey Derr, who raised the most questions about the project during Tuesday’s meeting.

“We can’t say that we are not adding a ton of pedestrian traffic into this area on this private road, and I would just like to see some sort of formal agreement that someone is going to maintain this road and plow it,” she said.

The Vintage Park site — where a post office, senior living center, food truck park and many other establishments are located — was established with the idea it would be fully developed for commercial use, Jill Lawhorne, community development director for the City and Borough of Juneau, said during the meeting. She said a staff recommendation to approve the permit for the dental building — and attached conditions — fits the intent of the area’s use.

“Realistically SEARHC is opening, or already has opened, one medical facility and now they’re opening a second,” she said. “They’re going to keep the road open for their patients (and) their employees as well. I think if it becomes too burdensome then the applicant can always come back and ask for a modification, and express whatever they feel they can do versus what they can’t do.”

Scott Martin, hired by SEARHC as a construction manager in November, told commission members that among the planned features that will improve pedestrian safety is lighting on and around the building.

“I do know that any of the conditions on the report didn’t seem out of line,” he said.

A public comment period between Feb. 24 and March 6 received no responses, according to a report presented to the commission.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.