Talking Out the Hospital Sites

New hospital sites sized up (from Sonoma Valley Sun)
Officials explain permit requirements, pitfalls of potential properties

"How hard would Sonoma County fight if the Sonoma Valley Hospital tried to use eminent domain to build a new hospital at Maxwell Farms Regional Park?"

"That question was posed Monday night by Arnold Riebli, a candidate for the hospital board, to Valerie Brown, the Sonoma County Supervisor who represents Sonoma Valley. It turns out that initially, Brown was interested in building the hospital at Maxwell Park, which is located at Highway 12 and Verano Avenue."

'“I thought there was space available on Maxwell Park,” she told an audience of about 60 people who came to the Vintage House senior center for a meeting of the Sonoma Valley Health Care Coalition. It’s the ad hoc committee that’s trying to figure out how to keep a hospital in the Valley following the failure in the spring of Measure C, the ballot proposal to build a new, $148 million earthquake-safe facility replacing the existing Andrieux Street hospital, which the state may close in 2012 under current seismic safety standards."

"On Monday night, as part of an ongoing series of talks, the coalition invited Brown and other county and city officials to discuss some of the planning aspects associated with potential hospital sites.Brown said that about a year ago she invited people to sit down in her office to discuss the potential use of Maxwell Park as a hospital site."

"For years, hospital officials have eyed the park, which they consider to be ideally located to serve the hospital’s customers. Another advantage: The park is inside the city’s urban growth boundary, which means city water and sewer service is available."

'“Quite frankly, I thought it’d be nice to be somebody riding in on a white horse, doing something,” said Brown, describing her initial hopeful feeling about the park site. But it turned out that the county has taken grant money, including federal money, for the park on the condition that the land stay in recreational use."

“I honestly believe that land is sewed up,” Brown said. “I don’t even know if you can do an eminent domain on property that’s conditioned the way that is.”

"And so it went throughout the 90-minute meeting. Brown and the other officials indicated that all the proposed hospital sites were problematic."

'“I don’t envy any of you the challenge of finding the optimal site for the hospital. You’re going to have to figure out the least-worst option,” said Sonoma City Planner David Goodison. He kicked off the proceedings with an explanation of such things as the city’s urban growth boundary. It’s a line voted into place by Sonoma’s voters in 2000 that more or less matches Sonoma’s city limits."

"The only way the urban growth boundary can be expanded is by majority vote of the city’s voters. The urban growth boundary comes into play for two proposed hospital sites: a 22-acre site on the northwest corner of Eighth Street East and Napa Road and a 15 acre site on the southwest corner of Broadway and Napa Road."

"City sewer and water? It’s on the Eighth Street East site that the Dallas, Tex.-based Cirrus Health proposes building a privately funded hospital and medical office building alongside an upscale medical spa proposed by developer Henry Grause and architect Michael Ross."

"In order for the Eighth Street East site to get city sewer and water service, Sonoma residents would have to vote to expand the city’s urban growth boundary to include the 22-acre site along with about 50 acres of adjacent property. Supervisor Brown said that she met with Grause and Ross early on, when the two were simply proposing a spa on the property."

'“Quite candidly, I said to the two of them: You have huge hurdles with this property. You’ve got some huge problems attached to this particular parcel,” Brown told the audience."

“'The next time I hear about the Eighth Street East project, there’s a (proposed) hospital... alongside it.”'

"She suggested that a high-intensity use such as a hospital would be better inside city limits. Brown cited a Dec. 13, 2005 memorandum from the Sonoma LAFCO, or the Local Agency Formation Commission, that concluded that the spa would be more appropriate inside the City of Sonoma’s boundaries."

"LAFCO is a state agency created in 1963 to discourage urban sprawl. Each California county has a 7-member LAFCO comprised of local elected officials, and one member of the public who weigh in on annexations and other boundary issues."

"Steve Sharpe, executive officer of Sonoma LAFCO, told the audience of another hurdle facing any site to be annexed into the city, even if the city’s voters extend the urban growth boundary: If enough property owners inside an area that’s being annexed are opposed, the property owners can veto the annexation."

"Other potential issues that Supervisor Brown cited with the Eighth Street East site is that residents there already are upset about truck traffic, that the site floods and that she predicted wine warehouse tenants on Eighth Street East would clamor for the right to open tasting rooms, should the hospital get built."

"Or, well water and county sewer? Ross defended the Eighth Street East site during the question-and-answer period, saying the most emphasis should be placed on “which parcel has the most chance of delivering a hospital.”'

"Following the meeting, Grause said that a Eighth Street East hospital site could use well water. As for sewer service, the county has a moratorium on new hook-ups. But Ross provided The Sun with a copy of the 1998 resolution that established the Sonoma Valley Sanitation District’s urban service boundary."

"The resolution says that the county supervisors can provide sewer service from the Eighth Street East sewage plant if “a significant public... need is served.” Under that criterion, Ross thinks the supervisors could provide sewer service to a hospital on Eighth Street East, even if the property is outside the city limits."

"A proposed 15-acre hospital site on Broadway and Napa Road straddles the city’s urban growth boundary.“There has been talk about bifurcating the usage of the property,” Brown said, or possibly building the hospital inside city limits with its parking lot constructed as a separate project in the county."

"Mitch Mulas, a longtime Schellville dairy farmer, said at the meeting that there are sites with water and sewer service that could be used for a hospital, but aren’t getting attention.“I don’t think you’ve approached everybody,” said Mulas, who declined to name the sites."