Change is coming to the neighborhood surrounding Auburn Regional Medical Center, and the City of Auburn wants to hear the direction people who live and work there think that change should take.

That is, should there be more healthcare businesses, more professional offices? Should the buildings be taller? Do the sidewalks need attention? And what about parking?

Getting information from the public and giving information out is the idea behind the North Hospital Neighborhood meeting that the Planning and Community Development Committee, an Auburn City Council subcommittee, plans to hold at 6 p.m., April 1 in the City Council Chambers at Auburn City Hall.

Committee members are in the first stages of considering a land-use change for the neighborhood by establishing a Healthcare District Overlay, a special zoning district that identifies specific areas of the city with unique features or where special approaches allow flexible development standards.

According to Auburn Senior Planner Stacey Borland, the purpose of the district would be to enhance community services and promote development of health care and related facilities in the area surrounding the hospital.

The city has already mailed out surveys asking what people want, and one of the key questions on that survey centers on parking in the residential neighborhood north of 3rd Street Northeast. Sample parking options include:

• Retain 72-hour parking restrictions throughout the neighborhood with no change to the present on-street parking requirements;

• Implement a maximum, two-hour, on-street parking restriction throughout the neighborhood from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday;

• In addition to the two-hour restriction, implement a permit parking zone from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. This would limit parking to residents and their guests during specified hours by obtaining a permit from the city.

Borland said the special district is being considered not only to assess land uses north of 3rd Street Northeast but to capitalize on the hospital as a catalyst for healthcare-use-related development and to preserve the existing single-family neighborhood north of 3rd Street Northeast.

The open house will also provide people a chance to talk with staff and councilmembers and find out about such city services and programs as Block Watch, Map Your Neighborhood, and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).