Montgomery County Planning Board to Consider Proposed Suburban Hospital Expansion
SILVER SPRING – On Thursday, the Montgomery County Planning Board will consider a proposal by a Bethesda-area hospital to expand by 238,000 square feet, a move that would require closing part of a road and demolishing some hospital-owned homes.
Representatives for Suburban Hospital, a 228-bed regional trauma center bordered by Old Georgetown Road, Lincoln Street and Grant Street, have requested an expansion to increase its patient rolls by adding 66 beds and to accommodate the use of more modern health care technologies.
After the Board considers the request, called a special exception, it will issue a recommendation to the County Hearing Examiner. A related application seeks to abandon part of Lincoln Street, between Old Georgetown Road and Grant Street.
About 40 residents have signed up in advance to speak before the Board about the hospital application.
Planners reviewing Suburban’s request recommend approval of the expansion, saying that the design and scale of the proposed new buildings fit with the general character of the neighborhood. For example, the new building would be lowest close to nearby homes, then gain in height toward Old Georgetown Road, with hospital activities oriented away from the residential area.
Staff further cited the hospital’s willingness to amend parts of an original plan, such as improving design of a parking garage, retaining more mature trees, and widening existing and proposed pedestrian and bike paths.
Staff worked closely with the hospital to achieve an efficient, well-designed garage that will have less of an impact on the surrounding neighborhood. At the advice of environmental planners, hospital representatives amended a forest conservation plan in hopes of saving 10 of 39 existing large trees. The applicant has an additional planting requirement of 2¼ acres of trees.
Suburban Hospital has been in operation since 1949. Hospital representatives say they have outgrown their existing buildings, and the lack of space limits how far they can advance with such techniques as robotic and radiologically guided surgery.
Some residents, many of whom are members of the Huntington Terrace Citizens Association, have expressed concerns about the design of the proposed expansion, the road closing and the demolition of 23 homes.
WHO:
Montgomery County Planning Department
WHAT:
Suburban Hospital expansion application
WHEN:
Thursday, September 25, approximately 9:15 a.m.
WHERE:
Planning Department Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD
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