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East Cooper hospital plan gets shot in arm
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
East Cooper Regional Medical Center’s request for zoning and annexation of its proposed new hospital at the intersection of Mathis Ferry and Von Kolnitz roads gained a recommendation for approval from the Mount Pleasant planning commission earlier this month, but it came with a handful of caveats.
ECRMC plans a 150-bed hospital for 55 acres formerly known as the Query Tract, which would increase its existing bed count by 50.
The site, adjacent to the hospital’s current facility located at 1200 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., could also include an additional 100 beds, a 160-bed psychiatric hospital, a 100-bed rehabilitation hospital, 220,000 square feet of office space, a pharmacy, fitness center and gift shop in an additional phase, making it a “medical campus” rather than simply a hospital. The existing facility would be used for a complementary service, perhaps long-term care.
Hospital officials went before the commission seeking to be annexed into the town of Mount Pleasant and a zoning designation of “planned development-economic development”—one the hospital felt it deserved because of its multimillion-dollar annual impact on the area.
The hospital also requested its new buildings be allowed to reach 80 feet, more than twice the 35 feet allowed in the area, allowing it to separate services by floor, increase security and efficiency, conserve green space and accommodate wiring and other equipment that must be installed between levels.
The hospital also asked to be exempt from a tree ordinance, allowing it to remove trees of a certain size without a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals. The hospital showed 13 historic trees that would have to be removed.
The planning commission heard a lengthy round of comments from the public, which addressed a number of concerns about the proposed project, from worry of having a “mini MUSC” in the middle of a residential area, to the traffic the hospital will create.
According to city documents, the first phase of the development will produce nearly 1,500 additional daily car trips. Phase two would create between 10,000 and 11,000 trips.
James B. Edwards Elementary School PTA president Dee Stracey said she was worried about the safety of students in light of the new traffic that will be created.
Citizens also wondered about the impact the project will have on the area when combined with traffic in and out of the former Wando High School building nearby.
That building will be used as a “swing campus” while Moultrie Middle School is rebuilt, according to an e-mail from Bill Lewis, executive director of facilities improvements for the Charleston County School District. It could also one day be used for the same purpose for Laing Middle School and will eventually be the home of a new high school.
The commission expressed its support for the general concept of the plan but agreed there may be room to improve the plans.
In a 7-2 vote, it approved the zoning and annexation request for the 55-acre parcel but only under the conditions that the hospital include a connector road from Bowman Road through the existing hospital site across Von Kolnitz to the new site to help alleviate traffic problems. That road was supposed to be part of phase two of the development but will now be included in the first phase.
The commission also asked that the hospital create a buffer along Mathis Ferry that will be as opaque as possible to help conceal the buildings and look at ways to move structures farther away from Mathis Ferry.
Dr. W. John Langley, chairman of the ECRMC governing board, said the hospital will be glad to consider other options.
“We will look at the design of the property to see if we can meet the needs of some of our neighbors, including moving the footprint of the hospital away from Mathis Ferry, but we don’t want to run the risk of interfering with the green space or having an added impact on the historic trees,” he said.
Langley also said that as far as the Wando High School issue goes, the hospital’s proposed traffic improvements will still help alleviate congestion in the area, even during the building’s use by the middle schools or should it be permanently used by another school, he said.
Project engineer Tony Woody, a civil engineer and partner at Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co., presented to the commission a plan for a roundabout at the intersection of Mathis Ferry and Von Kolnitz and a stacking lane for parents at the elementary school, both of which he feels confident would solve traffic issues at the site.
Further, in response to concerns about the psychiatric hospital near an elementary school, Langley stressed that nothing is set in stone yet, and it will be several years before that phase of the development is underway.
The first phase is scheduled to open in 2009. The second phase, Langley said, would be open five to 10 years after that.
“(The psychiatric hospital) is not a done deal. We’re looking at having the medical needs of people east of the Cooper met. That could be an extended care facility, a rehab facility. We’re not sure. Right now it’s all speculation and conjecture,” he said.
The planning commission will receive revised plans addressing its concerns, and the request will go before planning committee for action in December. Should committee approve the request, it will go before town council for final approval.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
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