Local News
Email
Print
Panel OKs land plan
Novant's rezoning request approved
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 14, 2009
Updated: 07/14/2009 12:40 am
CLEMMONS - The Clemmons Village Council approved last night the rezoning that will allow Novant Inc. to build a hospital as part of a124-acre campus. It will consist of a public lake surrounded by greenways, a new elementary school, and space for retail businesses and a housing development.
The council voted 4-0 in favor of the rezoning with Council Member Al Harbury abstaining. Harbury said he would not vote on the matter because the project didn't meet the village's land-use plan and that it did not include a park.
The council took action after a 90-minute public hearing in which about 20 proponents and five opponents spoke about the project. The Clemmons Planning Board had recommended that the council approve the project that will be off Harper Road and Interstate 40.
The hospital was proposed in September 2007, about the same time that Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center proposed a similar community hospital about four miles away in Advance.
Novant and Wake Forest Baptist have waged an intense battle for local support, and both have earned conditional approval from the state on their proposed hospitals. However, Baptist has appealed the approval given to Novant. State officials are expected to rule by late summer or the fall on that appeal.
Before the council voted, Council Member Larry McClellan asked David Park, Novant's senior vice president for corporate real-estate and construction, what Novant would do if the state didn't approve its certificate of need for the hospital.
Park said that Novant's intent is to provide medical services to Clemmons and it would consider putting a medical-office park there if the state denies its request for a hospital.
"We are committed to these 124 acres, and we are committed to this plan," Park said.
Karen Bartoletti, an official for Novant, said that the company will pay for a new dam on the lake and then donate the 17-acre lake to the village. It would also pay for some road improvements. That represents a Novant investment of more than $7.5 million to the village before it invests $100 million to build the planned hospital.
The hospital would bring 400 jobs to the community, Bartoletti said.
"And when the development is fully built out, that number could easily double to bring closer to 1,000 jobs to Clemmons," she said. "Spending by these new employees will benefit Clemmons, the fire district and the county to tune of millions of dollars."
McClellan and Council Members Robert Marshall, Mary Cameron and Chris Jones said they supported the project because it would benefit Clemmons.
The project adheres to the Village Point Area Plan that guides development in Clemmons, Cameron said. She praised Novant for listening to the residents' concerns about the project.
Cameron said it appears that most Clemmons residents support the idea of building a hospital in the village.
During the public hearing, several residents and business owners said that the project would be the right approach for Clemmons because the village needs a hospital that could provide emergency-room services and quality care for residents.
The planned elementary school would reduce overcrowding at the Southwest Elementary School, another proponent said.
Kirsten Royster of Clemmons urged the council to approve the rezoning for the project.
"This opportunity will not come along again," Royster said.
However, opponents said that the project would increase traffic on Harper Road and that the village would hard pressed to find the money to maintain the lake after Novant donates it to Clemmons.
Shari Coburn, who is running for a council seat in the November election, said that the project does not follow the village's land-use plan.
"This project represents a major change to Clemmons," Coburn said. "The citizens of Clemmons said in January that they want to remain a village. I just ask the council to respect their preference."
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or a jhinton@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
