The Santa Clarita Planning Commission gave its seal of approval Tuesday to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital’s modified master plan and development agreement.

The modification includes an increase of building square footage by 30,566 square feet and the relocation of the helipad to the northwest corner of the inpatient building.

“The request for the additional square footage and helipad relocation is a result of the improvements required for all hospitals by the California Building Standards Code and Federal Aviation Administration requirements” the went into effect after the 2008 Master Plan and Development Agreement were approved, according to a city staff report.

The square footage increase is planned to be added to the inpatient building with a reduction to the central plant area. The height of the inpatient building is planned to reach 85-feet, as originally stated in the 2008 plan.

A redistribution of beds is anticipated with 22 beds being relocated to the Inpatient building and one bed to the nursing pavilion but would not exceed the total of 368 beds.

The helipad will be relocated to the northwesterly part of the inpatient building roof, about 100 feet northwest of the location approved in the original plan.

“It is very technical the way we did it. We did not want to move it. We really did want to keep it away from the neighbors and we really tried very hard to make t such but because of the way that the flight path travels,” said Stacey Pray, project manager for overall Henry Mayo Master Plan . “We looked at any way possible not to move the helipad.”

The current helipad would only be used in times of “city-declared emergency or in the event that the primary helipad was out of commission,” according to the report.

There is no change to the medical office buildings, number of beds, number of parking stalls or 15-year Master Plan and Development Agreement term — which is set to expire in 2023. The Final Environmental Impact Report was approved in November 2008.

“The hospital has always been there and it’s there now and I think that’s where our main hospital is always going to be…,” said Dennis Ostrom, chairperson for the Planning Commission. ”It’s basically the same hospital, so, these changes, I don’t really have a problem with.”