The Beloit (Wis.) City Council voted unanimously to change the city's "hospital" zoning category with the broader term "medical facility," Beloit Daily News reported Sept. 21.
The change comes after Rockford, Ill.-based OrthoIllinois applied to build an ASC in Beloit's Gateway Business Park — a move that drew strong opposition from Beloit Health System, the city's largest employer.
The new category includes hospitals, ASCs, nursing homes and medical clinics as allowed developments. The council also removed medical and dental clinics as examples of office uses.
"It's clear the city's zoning code needs to be modernized," Council President Clinton Anderson said at the meeting.
OrthoIllinois has since dropped its plans at Gateway Business Park in favor of another property, although the company hasn't yet submitted a new application.