Commission Adds Public Hearing, Listens to HCA Proposals

By Christopher Twarowski

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Loudoun Planning Commission announced last night that because of missing information in a newspaper advertisement, it will be holding a joint public hearing Nov. 20 with the Board of Supervisors on the proposed 164-bed hospital in Broadlands.

This is the second time the commission has had to alter its schedule because of a mistake that county staff members made in providing notice of a public hearing on the proposed hospital, which HCA Virginia wants to build on a 57.7-acre site at Dulles Greenway and Route 659. (MAP IT)

A hearing scheduled for Sept. 25 at Eagle Ridge Middle School was postponed to Oct. 15 after it was discovered that a sign at the Broadlands property listed the wrong location for the session. After holding the Oct. 15 hearing, the commission learned that one of the modifications HCA is seeking in its land-use application was left out of the advertisement the county was required to place in local newspapers. That forced the commission to schedule the joint Nov. 20 hearing.

"For it to happen twice just complicates the process for everyone," said commission vice chairman Peggy Maio (Blue Ridge). "It is unusual."

Maio said, however, that the most recent snag was not expected to affect the overall time frame of the review process. County officials have said the proposal will likely be considered by the Board of Supervisors at a meeting in December.

HCA's application to build the 24-hour acute care hospital, called the Broadlands Regional Medical Center, must go before the commission and the Board of Supervisors for approval of a special exception. Many of the project's opponents want the hospital built along Route 50 in the Dulles South area instead.

Last night's Planning Commission work session, which lasted more than four hours, focused on additional information the commission sought from HCA and involved concerns over traffic mitigation, construction and design.

Julie Pastor, Van Armstrong and Cindy Keegan from the county's Department of Planning discussed the county's health care facilities plan and went over a list of 25 items the department has proposed to HCA as conditions for granting the special exception. Commissioners questioned Mark C. Looney of the Reston-based law firm Cooley Godward Kronish, which is representing HCA, about each of the items.

Commissioner Sandra Chaloux (Dulles) also asked about the feasibility of HCA building a hospital in the Route 50 corridor in her district, suggesting that HCA has the option of building the hospital on land it already owns in that area.

Looney said that was not the case, pointing out that the state health commissioner has issued the required certificate of public need for the Broadlands site but not for the Route 50 property. He also said that HCA has no plans to apply for a certificate for a hospital at the Route 50 site "in the foreseeable future" because it does not think there is sufficient demand in that part of the county.

HCA projects that by 2010, 90 percent of Loudoun's population will be closer to Broadlands than to the Route 50 location, he said. He said the figure will be 88 percent by 2020.

The commission requested that county staff members verify HCA's population statistics.

Just before the session closed, Stephen C. Price, an attorney with the law firm of McCandlish & Lillard, representing Inova Loudoun Hospital, requested that the commission set aside two hours at a future work session to hear an additional presentation from its side. Inova officials have argued that the proposed Broadlands site is too close to Inova Loudoun, which is about five miles away.

The commission instead agreed to accept a written presentation from Inova, which would allow individual commissioners to contact Inova later if they have further questions. Commission members said there had already been ample time and opportunity for all parties to express their views, through comments made at public hearings, meetings with individual commissioners, phone calls and e-mails. Allowing one party additional time now would open the door for more requests from others, said commission chairman Christeen Tolle.

Tagged: Broadlands, development, growth, hospital, Inova Loudoun Hospital, Loudoun Planning Commission

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