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Novant submits plan for hospital
It takes the first step needed for rezoning
Journal Graphic by Nicholas Weir
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Published: April 9, 2009
Updated: 04/09/2009 12:20 am
CLEMMONS - Novant Health Inc. has filed a master plan with the village of Clemmons, the first step in getting 124 acres off Harper Road rezoned for a proposed 50-bed hospital.
By submitting the plan by April 2, Novant's rezoning petition will come before the planning board May 19. That meeting will include time for public comment. If there are no delays, the village council will act on the rezoning bid at its June 8 meeting.
Construction of the hospital has not been set because the state has not issued a certificate of need, a step that is required to open a hospital. The N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation has conditionally approved Novant's plan to build a hospital in Clemmons. Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, which wants to build a competing hospital in nearby Advance, has appealed the state's decision.
Although the appeal could delay construction of a Clemmons hospital for months, Novant wants to have a plan in place because rezoning also can take months, an official with Forsyth Medical Center said.
"We want to be ready to move ahead when the legal and regulatory issues are resolved, which we hope is quite soon," said Karen Bartoletti, a vice president with the medical center. Novant owns Forsyth Medical Center.
The master plan, which was designed by Doug Stimmel of Stimmel & Associates, includes a site plan for a two-story elementary school that will sit on 16.7 acres. Novant owns the property for the proposed school but has said it will sell that land to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
Other features on the master plan include the 17.5-acre Reynolds Pond, four miles of greenways and sidewalks, and a roundabout off Harper Road that will serve as the main entrance to the school.
Novant has said it will donate the pond and a 100-foot buffer around the pond to the village.
"The overall goal was to create a 124-acre comprehensive planned development that
benefits Clemmons," Stimmel said.
He said that the plan was developed with the Village Point Small Area Plan in mind. The plan is meant to act as a guide for future development in Village Point, a 340-tract that is bordered by Peace Haven Road, Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Interstate 40 and Harper Road.
"The hospital only needs 20 acres, but Novant has agreed to master-plan the entire 124 acres in keeping with the approved goals of the Small Area Plan," Stimmel said.
The hospital's location on the tract was moved closer to I-40 because of concerns from residents who live in Waterford and other subdivisions along Harper Road, Stimmel said.
Novant's rezoning request will be in two phases. The first phase, which is scheduled to come before the planning board May 19, will involve rezoning all 124 acres from residential to pedestrian-business, and considering all of the associated uses for the nine tracts within the 124 acres. The site plan for the school, pond and trails will also be reviewed.
A site plan for the hospital is still being developed, Stimmel said.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
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