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Novant to request rezoning for hospital
Village of Clemmons to consider its petition to build on Harper Road
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Published: March 12, 2009
CLEMMONS
Novant Health Inc. plans to file a petition with the village of Clemmons later this month to rezone a tract of land along Harper Road.
Novant wants to use 18 of the 122 acres it owns in the area to build a 50-bed hospital. 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. However, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, which wants to build a competing hospital in Advance, has appealed the state's decision.
The appeal could delay construction of a Clemmons hospital for several months.
In the meantime, Novant is moving ahead with a site plan for its proposed hospital.
Cynthia Charles, a spokeswoman for Novant, said that it plans to hold a series of drop-in meetings and community discussions over the next three weeks before submitting its rezoning petition.
Novant has also been meeting individually with members of the village council.
Council Member Larry McClellan said at Monday's council meeting that he has seen the site plan. "I think we will all be impressed with what they plan to do. That's my personal opinion," he said.
Council Member Al Harbury said that the council needs to have a better understanding of the how the community feels about a hospital before it votes to approve or reject Novant's rezoning petition. His suggestion that the village send out a survey or hold a referendum was met with resistance from other members of the council.
"I've been told that we'd be setting a precedent if we do this," Harbury said about a survey or referendum. "To which I say, ‘Yeah, we are.'"
Fellow Council Members Robert Marshall and Mary Cameron pointed out that they were elected to make decisions for the community.
"That is the responsibility we took when we took the oath of office," Cameron said.
Both Marshall and Cameron said that they are in favor of a hospital for Clemmons. But they said that their support for a hospital does not necessarily mean that they would approve Novant's petition for rezoning.
Marshall said that the public has had ample opportunity to weigh in on whether Clemmons should have a hospital. Novant and the medical center held public meetings that drew hundreds of people, he said.
Harbury countered that those were emotionally charged meetings filled with people with vested interests.
"I do believe there is strong opinion in the village on both sides of the issue," Harbury said. "To me, it's worth the less than $5,000 it would take to find out what the public thinks."
When Novant files its petition, it will also submit a site plan, which will be available at Village Hall for the public to review. The village's planning staff will go over the plan, as will a technical review committee made up of Forsyth County agencies, including the City-County Utilities Division and the Forsyth County Fire Department.
The village's planning board will likely discuss the petition at a meeting in May or June. That meeting will include time for the public to speak.
The petition will come before the village council in June or early July.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lo'donnell@wsjournal.com.
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