City votes against University medical complex
After hearing heavy opposition from the community, Aiken City Council members said no to University Hospital's plans for a medical office complex on Silver Bluff Road.
Members unanimously denied the concept plan for the complex - a 72,000-square-foot medical office center across from the Centre South Shopping Center.
Council chambers in the Aiken Municipal Building was limited to standing-room only with most in attendance against the proposal. The majority of people that addressed Council on the issue were affiliated with Aiken Regional Medical Centers.
"I want you to please think about the long-range effect this kind of thing will have," said Kay Biermann Brohl, a board member with Aiken Regional and a former Planning Commissioner with the City of Aiken.
Brohl said she was concerned of the impact the proposal would have on traffic on Silver Bluff and the economic repercussions the complex could have on Aiken's economy if Aiken Regional began losing patients to Augusta.
K.D. Justyn, CEO of Aiken Regional, called University's plan a "vision of potential harm to Aiken." She said a good, solid hospital attracts new residents and businesses to a community.
"No company is going to want to move to this area without a solid health care environment," said Justyn.
Andy Lasser, executive vice president of business development for University, told Council members that the hospital wanted to give its Aiken patients access to its services without having to travel to Augusta.
Lasser said 20 percent of University's patients are Aiken County residents.
"Our goal is to try to bring health services here to the people that need them. We have a business motive, but we also have a community motive," he said. "Do we hope that some of those patients would come from those offices to Augusta? Of course, we do, saying anything other than that would be insincere."
There were also concerns of whether the complex would pay taxes to the City since University is listed as a not-for-profit organization. Lasser said the hospital would apply for a tax exemption for the property but that those leasing the space would pay business taxes to the City.
He said the buildings would be leased to doctors and development corporations. The complex would have included three buildings which were to be completed in phases. For the first phase, a 17,000-square-foot physician office was planned. Development of the second and third phases of the complex may not have begun another 10 to 15 years, according to Lasser. He said about 45 to 50 physicians would work at the offices.
Not everyone was against the proposal. Graniteville resident Beth Posey Powell said she would like to see the medical complex be built, saying Aiken residents need a choice.
"I do believe that University does provide better care, and I would like to see them come in this direction," she said.
Tina Bevington, also a Graniteville resident, said having the facility in Aiken would be convenient for those who travel to University Hospital for medical care.
"I think everybody has a right to have a choice," she said.
Before voting on the proposal, Aiken City Council members entered into an executive session for about 20 minutes, saying they needed to discuss a legal matter. The majority of Council cited traffic concerns as why they denied the ordinance.
City Councilwoman Jane Vaughters said she was voting against the proposal because of the effect it would have on the surrounding neighborhood.
"I think a (72,000-square-foot facility) is too much for this space," she said.
Vaughters said she was also concerned that it could be another 10 to 15 years before the entire complex is finished.
"If we're going to approve a large project that's going to be tax exempt, we've got to think of everything because, if we don't, it's going to come back on the taxpayers," she said.
Since the concept plan was voted down, the property must be developed with retail and residential properties as was required when it was annexed into the City several years ago.
Before Council members voted, Lasser said if the proposal was denied, the property would likely be sold.