Broadlands Hospital

Nova-
Your HOA President made no claims. Cliff Keirce did. Before you claim something is stupid, look at what I was responding to. A comment was made that "hospitals are not in residential areas." This is blatantly false. I know this to be a fact because I did travel to all of these hospitals, and walked and drove around them. I knocked on doors and asked people if they had concerns about being next to a hospital.
Maybe you should put your time where your mouth is and you can join me on another driving tour of these hospitals. Then we'll see who's comment is "stupid." It seems you and others are deciding to split hairs about the definition of "residential." I guess townhouses and condos don't count. You have determined Reston is "urban" and Ashburn is "suburbuban", therefore those residences don"t count?

The reason I spent hundreds of hours on this is because I have spent ten years dedicating myself to this community. The hospital announcement obviously had the potential to have an impact. I could have sat back and taken a passive role and done nothing. But that is not my style. I listened to the concerns of residents and investigated them and reached my own conclusions.
Believe me, over the course of the 2 or more years the process was going on, it was easy to spend that much time on it.
As you can also tell, I have no problems sharing my opinions and viewpoints. If someone decides to be against this thing, that's fine. I just am trying to share what I've learned looking into the various issues raised. Take it for what it's worth and reach your own conclusion.

Lee-
You see me as being emotionally tied to this. I'm not...you just tend to throw out ridiculous comments and ideas and refuse to answer any questions posed back to you. I've done my homework about this issue (you've done absolutely NONE so far) and have chosen to support it. I guess this does mean I am biased in favor of it.

So, for about the fourth time I will ask you to respond to this. I really am curious what your answer is. You keep saying this hospital is being jammed down our throats, people don't want it, and those close in should have the final say. So.....I ask again:

Let's say BRMC is again put before the county, along with the tens of millions of dollars in road proffers, millions of dollars in tax revenue, and providing more healthcare to a county that is woefully underserved, as well as all those high paying jobs.
How many people does it take for the county to turn it down?
Just one person saying "I live there and don"t like it." 10? 20? 100?
What if 20 don't like it, but 20 that live nearby say they do?
And what is your definition of "Closest?" 1/2 mile? mile? 100 yards?

I know there are many supporters who live near the site. In fact the resident in the house right on the corner by the entrance was a HUGE supporter...and his wife worked for Loudoun Hospital. Since he was the closest, does his vote trump all?

 

No, your westbound traffic on Waxpool will curve north onto Faulkner Parkway which becomes Broadlands Blvd. That will be the fastest and most direct way.
Traffic on Waxpool starting west of that point would turn right on Ashburn Road and left onto Broadlands blvd or right onto Claiborne and left onto Broaldlands Blvd. That would be the fastest and most direct.

Clyde's required a Special Exception as well for approval. I guess we should insist it be closed down.

T8 points out there is NO parking problem at Inova Loudoun, it is pointed out that this hospital will have a parking garage to ensure no parking problem. You come back with injured kids on skateboards. Thanks.

 

Cliff,

For being President of the HOA you are really scarcastic in your response, you sound like you always have to be right. I'm glad that you serve on the Board but not everyone in the community wants this hospital. You must really want this hospital. In fact the people that HCA moved up here from TN have left HCA because they knew that this project was not going as well as they haved planned and gotten other jobs in No. VA.

My point about the parking garage was that it will be so nice a structure that it could double as a skateboard ramp. Where is your sense of humor?

I hope the hospital does not get built in the broadlands plain and simple.

You can provide all the "facts" and tell me how people will drive to the hospital but I guess no one ever goes down Glebe View to go to the LCPS administration building or Clyde's I'm sorry I guess I don't know enough about the traffic patterns around here.

Let them build it somewhere else. Enough said.

 

There is a huge difference between a hospital and a restaurant that is tastefully constructed of Antique New England Farm Buildings.

I hope that you understand that hospitals will almost always cause a decline in real estate value.

To explain the reason for the potential decline in real estate values, I am going to, as delicately as possible, dive off into politically incorrect land.

The perception is that people of many different socio-economic backgrounds use hospitals. In general, the Broadlands are homogeneous (sp?) from middle class to upper middle class economically, and family-centric socially. The hospital will bring people from all walks of life, many of whom have not had the good fortune that we have. Many of them have been exposed to lives filled with daily violence. Some of them may have been incarcerated. The opposite of a hospital zone is a gated community. Right or wrong, most people will pay more for the gated community than the hospital zone.

Food for thought,

 

A simple question for Cliff...would you rather live 50 yards from the hospital, or 2 miles away? (I would rather be 2 miles away!)

The hospital will not affect property values more than 1/2 mile away from the entrance to the hospital.

Let's remember, that it is the Home Owners' Association that you are President of, and not the Property Owners' Association. I would think that a primary goal would be to protect all of our home owners from projects that would cause them discomfort, economic or other.

Seriously, I was looking for a mission statement for the HOA. Do we have one?

 

It is politically incorrect, and one should even say that they do not agree with an aversion to class mixing. But I agree with your hypothesis of hospitals being a more diverse destination. I guess that kind of ties in to my assumption that hospital patients may be a little less invested in our community than general offices.

Before anyone jumps on me or you, I don't think we are condoning this type of classism just by raising the question.

 

Right, I was pointing out that while I am relatively comfortable in diverse communities, from Anacostia to Keyser, WV, there are many people who are not. This will have an effect on our property values, and many people will be hesitant to buy here. I am sure that there are areas in Great Falls who would have the same argument over putting in a CVS.

 

But many homeowners DO want the hospital. So what is your point?

And just about any project has potential to be devisive. A proposed tot lot in the Highview Trail area was highly contested before the board.

As for Cliff's opinions, they are HIS whether he is the President or not. There are other board members who are staunchly opposed to the hospital. Should they not have a voice?

 

Of course, they are all welcome to their opinions. It just seems that this project was quashed. It was then off the radar.
Next thing, it looks we are going to have a hospital in our 'hood, and our President is supporting the project.
1. Has the board reached out to the Home Owners in a meaningful way to find out what they want? (And don't invite us to attend the meeting, that is not effective for literally hundreds of people to express themselves).
2. How does such a huge project go off the radar, and then *poof*, here comes the hospital?

 

First, it went off the radar because it is in litigation.
Second, it is far from being approved.
Third, what does our President supporting have to do with it? Broadlands does not own the land, HCA does. HCA does not need "our" approval. So if HCA does get all the approvals, there is pretty much squat that we can do about it.

 

T8er, how did HCA acquire the property?

 

So the way I see it, there seem to be three camps on this topic, and we're all sniping at each other.

1. Pro-hospital, pro-location. (Let HCA build BRMC on the land that they bought for that purpose.)
2. Pro-hospital, anti-location. (Let HCA build BRMC, but NIMBY.)
3. Anti-hospital in any location. (There's no need for a hospital here.)

Seem about right?

 

Zactly...what is HCA & how did they acquire the property?

 

"HCA is the nation's leading provider of healthcare services, composed of locally managed facilities that include 170 hospitals and 113 outpatient centers in 20 states and England.
"At its' founding in 1968, Nashville-based HCA was one of the nation's first hospital companies."

More info avaiable at their website: http://www.hcahealthcare.com/

 

1 and 2 absolutely

3 I don't think there is anyone against building an hospital somewhere, that does not work for one way or another for Loudoun hospital

Lee j

 

But several people have expressed the sentiment that a hospital should not be built in this region at all. I would like to believe you that nobody is against the hospital in general....

 

You have most efficiently defined NIMBY.

 

Overly sensitive much, Genco? As a neutral observer on this issue, the debate here has been healthy and productive...until you came in sniping and accusing. Chill.

 

I'm neutral on this issue right now and I love a good argument, but I think it's out of bounds to question Cliff's veracity when he says he has put in hundreds of hours studying this issue. You can rightly claim that I am rash in my opinions at times, but Cliff usually isn't. It's fine to disagree with Cliff's conclusions, but claiming Cliff is cranky and questioning his veracity is a cheap shot.