County might weigh in on hospital project.

Byline: MATT COOPER The Register-Guard

Lane County commissioners may want to have a say in whether PeaceHealth gets to build its planned $350 million regional medical complex on a 165-acre site in northwest Springfield.

The five members of the board of commissioners will take up the matter Feb. 5, when they'll talk about whether the proposed project could worsen traffic congestion in the Gateway area and otherwise adversely impact county residents.

If they decide that it would, they may write a letter asking city officials to address their concerns. But what the letter would say - and whether there even is a letter - will depend on whether a consensus emerges at the meeting.

South Eugene Commissioner Pete Sorenson, the board chairman, is the most outspoken in favor of entering into the city's decision.

"There should be a regional approach of finding the best site," he said, "and putting a major facility like this on the edge of the urban growth boundary causes me some concerns about the implications for the urban growth boundary and the livability for the entire metropolitan area.

"This affects the lives of everybody in the county and ... we ought to be examining this," Sorenson said.

Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken said he was unconcerned by the prospect of the county commissioners joining in the project's review, citing agreements between the local governments to stay out of each other's business.

He suggested that Sorenson is mostly concerned with what's best for his south Eugene constituents, who would be farthest from the new hospital if Sacred Heart moves from Hilyard Street in downtown Eugene to the Gateway area.

"I hope he looks at this from a land use perspective," Leiken said, "and not a personal statement."

West Lane Commissioner Anna Morrison said she hadn't seen any evidence that warrants the county getting involved. "The overall conditions really reside with the city of Springfield," she said.

The other three commissioners fall somewhere between Sorenson and Morrison, and that could mean the difference between the commissioners fighting for review power as a board or simply making statements as individual elected officials.

Springfield Commissioner Bill Dwyer agreed the project is a regional issue but said when the commissioners meet he wants to identify the negative impacts the county "will be asked to try to cure."

North Eugene Commissioner Bobby Green wants no part of the debate as long as the hospital is located in Springfield or Eugene, but said the county should "opt in" if it's determined the project violates state land use laws or the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Plan, the area's blueprint for future growth.

East Lane Commissioner Tom Lininger said his position in the matter will hinge on having a better understanding of the rules that distinguish city land use issues from regional ones. He added, however, that "if regionwide and interdistrict planning are good ideas, (the PeaceHealth project) is certainly one of them."

If a consensus or a majority opinion emerges from next week's meeting, Sorenson said the board could write a letter asking Springfield to address its concerns. His hope is that the city would respond concurrent with its planned public hearing on the PeaceHealth project Feb. 18, and prior to the City Council's expected vote in March.

Another option, Sorenson said, would be asking the Metropolitan Policy Committee to resolve concerns among the three governments, which includes the city of Eugene.

If the city approves the project, the commissioners may wait to see if opponents appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals on the grounds that Springfield alone ruled on what's rightfully a regional decision, Sorenson said.

The commissioners could also could pursue such an appeal, he added.

City planner Colin Stephens, the project manager, said the commissioners - like the general public - are welcome to submit testimony either as a board or as individuals, prior to the City Council's decision.

But there is no way for the commissioners to enter into the city's review of the project before that decision, nor any reason for them to do so, Stephens said.

The sole land use change proposed by PeaceHealth that would warrant the county's consideration is a change to the Metro Plan to convert up to 33 acres of the site from medium-density residential land to community-commercial use, Stephens said.

But the hospital is not planned on that part of the site - the 33 acres is meant for an urban village and medical office use - and the Metro Plan makes it clear that such a change is solely the jurisdiction of the host city, Stephens said.

The other changes "all affect properties within the city limits," Stephens said, which means that, barring an invite from the City Council, the commissioners' only recourse for intervention would be to the state appeals board, after the city has made its decision.

"If they felt they had standing that would make them a decision-maker I would assume they could use that on appeal," Stephens said.