COLD AND UGLY? HOSPITAL GROWTH PLAN REJECTED AGAIN.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The city's only hospital is planning a major expansion to keep pace with growth, but dozens of residents packed City Hall this week concerned about traffic jams, noise and the appearance of the proposed buildings.

They won the support of the Santa Clarita Planning Commission, which on Tuesday night rejected the medical center's revised master plan a second time.

Commissioners criticized the planned parking garages and medical buildings pictured in the reworked layouts for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital -- calling them cold, unappealing, too massive and ugly.

``The buildings remind me of buildings I went to in the 1980s at (California State University, Northridge,)'' said Commissioner Tim Burkhart.

The panel requested more appealing architecture for buildings that would front McBean Parkway and more high-tech 3-D visuals to conceptualize how changes would appear to homeowners and passing motorists.

The commissioners, who shared residents' concerns about increased traffic overall and cut-through traffic in nearby residential areas, asked city traffic engineers to study the issue.

Newhall Memorial was built in the mid-1970s on roughly 25 acres donated by The Newhall Land and Farming Company, across from a residential neighborhood. Since then, the area grew and the hospital is surrounded by homes.

Newhall Memorial now is creating a long-term master plan that would guide its development over the next 25 years based on need.

Jeff Lambert, the hospital's land-use consultant and a former Santa Clarita planning chief, called the revised plan responsive to neighbors' concerns.

``The reason it took us from February to now is because we focused very sincerely on addressing the issues raised by neighbors,'' he said.

David Gauny, who spoke on behalf of Smart Growth SCV, whose 150 or so members say they support planned growth, said residents aren't satisfied.

``They have made some token adjustments but we would like to see a one-third reduction in the size of the project,'' he said. Gauny got rousing applause when he said, ``I feel this is being shoved down our throats.''

Roger Seaver, Newhall Memorial's president, said while some hospitals abandon their communities, he sees the hospital as part of Santa Clarita's infrastructure in perpetuity.

``We desire a comprehensive master plan,'' he said. ``We need to get started on phase 1 of the five-year growth plan.''

Hospital board members and physicians who back the plan said Newhall Memorial must provide state-of-the-art services in close proximity to the community's only hospital. Larry Mankin, president of the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce, said the hospital touches every facet of the community and is an ``incredible corporate citizen we take for granted.''

Commissioner Diane Trautman, who said she understands and supports the need for expansion, reiterated concerns about the overall size and impacts of the proposed project, calling it ``too intense of a use for the property.'' She backs the option of exploring sites for an additional facility as part of future planning for the valley and the region.

City spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said the city is not courting any other hospitals.

Reena Newhall, whose husband, Tony, is a great-great-grandson of pioneer Henry Mayo Newhall, noted that half the donor wall at the hospital bears the names of Newhall family members. Newhall, who lives in the nearby Valencia Summit neighborhood, declared herself neutral at the start of the meeting, but was swayed.

``People in the surrounding area are ill-informed regarding the scope of this project,'' she said. ``I knew it was coming but I didn't know it was coming on this scale. It would be wonderful if the hospital could expand and do what they want to do, but at what cost to the community at large?''

The revised plan calls for sinking one story of some taller buildings underground to limit their heights. But Commissioner Dennis Ostrom said the hospital should consider building two stories below ground.

If the plan is approved, construction could begin in 2007 on a four-story medical office building and a six-level parking structure, with one level underground. Some workers would then move into the new space, freeing up room that could be converted into room for 18 to 20 hospital beds. Construction on a five-story inpatient building could begin some years later.

The hospital's helipad has been out of commission since March, and two new alternating pad locations are proposed, one atop a parking structure, another on top of an 85-foot-high hospital building.

A newly proposed second phase that could be developed from 2008 to 2015 calls for building a pair of three-story office buildings on the western edge of the site, and parking garages ranging from three levels to five levels.

Lambert said another traffic study would be done after 10 or 15 years, before further development occurs.

The final phase, which would be built after 2015, calls for demolishing four medical office buildings and erecting a four-story medical office building, a five-story patient building and a five-story administration building, expanding a parking garage in the rear of the property and building a four-level parking garage along McBean Parkway.

G&L Realty Corp., a private company that develops medical-related properties, owns about 30 percent of the hospital campus. G&L would build and own medical buildings and parking structures on the hospital property. The company provided an infusion of cash when the hospital went into bankruptcy several years ago.

Hospital officials have requested two new approvals for a development agreement and shared parking agreements, which will be discussed at upcoming public hearings.

The commission is set to review the matter again Oct. 17. The public comment period on the revised environmental report ends Oct. 23; public comment on the project ends after the commission closes the public hearing.

The plan could reach the City Council by the end of the year.

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Here is an artist's conception of the new building proposed for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. The growth plan was rejected for a second time.

David Crane/Staff Photographer