The city Zoning Board of Appeals approved two variances for the expansion project at UPMC Chautauqua WCA Wednesday. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

A height and setback variance was approved by the city Zoning Board of Appeals for the UPMC Chautauqua WCA expansion project.

On Wednesday, the city Zoning Board approved a front yard setback of 20 feet. The zoning code calls for 25 feet. They also approved the proposed height of 55 feet for the hospital after the two-story expansion project is completed. Zoning regulations call for a maximum building height of 35 feet.

Dave Rhinehart, Clark Patterson Lee, and Cecil Miller, UPMC Chautauqua WCA vice president of ancillary and support services, addressed the board about the variances. Rhinehart said the two-story addition will be built above the ambulance bay on the corner of Prather and Foote avenues. He said the new additions will match the current height of the hospital along Foote Avenue. He added new columns will be built for support because there were no plans for expansion when the first two stories were built.

Miller said the new third floor will include the new paternity ward and the fourth floor will be for behavioral health for adults and adolescents. He said they have heard no negative impact from the hospital neighbors about the proposed expansion project. He added they are waiting for final New York state approvals before construction can start. He said the project is expected to take two years to complete.

No one from the public spoke at the hearing or submitted a response to city officials.

Last month, the city Planning Commission approved the site plan contingent on variance approvals. In September, Betsy Wright, UPMC Chautauqua WCA president and chief executive officer, said the expansion project is estimated to cost $24.6 million. Wright said WCA’s expansion project will be to construct a new inpatient psychiatric care area and to create a new state-of-the-art maternity ward.

Wright said the expansion will allow WCA officials to house all of its inpatient care in one facility. Currently, they also use Jones Memorial Health Center. The new space will house inpatient psychiatric care that includes a unit for adolescent and a unit for adults.

In March 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that more than $155 million in grants were awarded to 10 health care capital improvement projects in Western New York. The funding is part of a $1.5 billion commitment by the state to assist health care providers. The state granted UPMC Chautauqua WCA $26 million for capital projects under the WCA Transformational Plan.

The awards were made through the Capital Restructuring Financing Program and Essential Health Care Provider Support Program. Both programs were created by the governor to support the Delivery System Reform Incentive Program, the main mechanism for investing $7.3 billion in Medicaid savings from a waiver between New York and the federal government. The goals of the program include reducing health care costs, improving the health of New Yorkers and reducing avoidable hospital admissions and emergency room visits by 25 percent by 2020.