One by one, during a standing-room-only public hearing at Monday night's Huntersville Town Board session, residents of the neighborhood asked questions and expressed concerns about some aspects of the project, but, almost without exception, summarized their statements in similar fashion: We are not opposed to the facility, we just don't want it in our back yard.
The public hearing, continued from the board's first meeting of the year two weeks earlier, focused on a rezoning request submitted by CHS to allow for the construction of what could eventually grow to be a two-story, 113,000-square-foot, 110-bed psychiatric care facility and outpatient clinic joined by a 30,000-square-foot medical office on the 17-acre tract the hospital owns at the corner of N.C. 115 and Verhoeff Drive.
The facility as proposed would be built in phases beginning with the construction of a 68,000-square-foot, 66-bed facility and outpatient clinic that would open next year if the plans are approved.
CHS is asking for the property to be rezoned from Neighborhood Residential to Campus Institutional-Conditional District (CI-CD)and is also seeking variances to eliminate road setback requirements and reduce the size of the required buffer along two-thirds of the common border with Monteith Place.
Monteith Place to the north of the property involved is zoned for residential use, while the hospital owns and operates a residential senior care facility to the rear of the site. Land across Verhoeff Drive occupied by Central Piedmont Community College is zoned CI, and the property is also bordered by the under-construction Verhoeff Drive overpass connector to Commerce Station industrial park.
During the petitioner's presentation to the board, CHS representatives outlined the proposal, adding plans for a six-foot wall in addition to extensive landscaping along the border with Monteith Place, and architectural changes to the proposed building to enhance its road frontage appearance. The changes were in response to previous comments and suggestions from citizens and town staff members.
When the public comment phase began at Monday's meeting, in addition to the basic underlying complaint that the psychiatric facility is simply not a good fit beside their neighborhood, individual speakers mentioned potential security, traffic, property valuation and aesthetic issues as supplemental reasons for their opposition.
Residents said they were concerned about psychiatric patients in close proximity to their homes and families, worried about traffic congestion generated by visitors, patients and commercial deliveries, and uncertain about the overall impact an institutional facility next door would have on the look, feel and marketability of their neighborhood.
"Many of us are left with questions, and we feel like we haven't gotten any answers," Steven Forster told the board.
Vickie Williams, who identified herself as a police officer, said she was aware of the type of people taken to psychiatric facilities and "I don't want them in my back yard."
"How do I keep my children safe?" she asked the board. "How would you keep your children safe?"
"As a fellow taxpayer and neighbor, I am fully against this project," Bill Martin said. "I can't believe this would not have a negative impact. I urge you to vote this down."
Ben Coggins, who initiated the Monteith Place vocal opposition to the project during the first public hearing session Jan. 3, was the final speaker during Tuesday's session.
"We're not against this facility," Coggins summarized. "We're just against it in our back yard."
The proposal did have supporters. Bill Russell, president and chief executive officer of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce, said CHS was already a good corporate neighbor in the community and referenced the jobs the facility would create as a positive factor to consider. Russell also stressed the need for the services the hospital would provide.
"One in four people are affected in some way by mental illness," Russell said. "We've talked about trees, roads, walls and buildings, but we also need to think about people."
And Shawn Caldwell, a resident of the Pottstown neighborhood across N.C. 115 from the site, said he thought the proposed hospital would be a good addition to the community.
"I think it's a good idea to have," Caldwell said. "There will be changes, but life will go on. All I ask is that the hospital do what they said they will do, be a good neighbor."
The next discussion of plans for the psychiatric hospital will take place at the Huntersville Planning Board meeting Jan. 24. A town board decision on the rezoning request is tentatively scheduled at the board's next meeting, Monday, Feb. 6.
