Amherst Daily News - Sandra Bales

Cumb. Health Care Foundation applies to rezone HVRH site

AMHERST - The Town of Amherst has received a rezoning application from the CUmberland Health Care Foundation to rezone the old Highland View Regional Hospital site to residential.

The matter was discussed by the town's Planning Advisory Committee at its meeting last night and was accepted by the committee.

The matter will now be passed on to town council for its final decision.

The foundation is seeking to have the piece of land rezoned from special use to residential to allow the property to be sold for a housing development. They also own a piece of land across East Pleasant Street and are seeking to have it zoned residential as well.

Although many people in the community are afraid once the hospital is zoned residential and the houses start going up, Dickey Park will be next, the committee noted this is just not the case.

Councilor Ed Chitty, who is one of council's representatives on the board stressed this rezoning application is only for the hospital site and the other property across the street and not Dickey Park.

"It is owned by the town and not the hospital foundation," Chitty said.

"We couldn't rezone it residential even if we wanted to. It was bequeathed to the town by the Dickey family for a park and it will always be a park or we could give it back to the Dickey family, but it will always be a park."

"This new development won't impinge at all on the park, in fact the park would make it a tremendous place to live," Councillor Dale Fawthrop, who also sits on the committee, added.

Director of Planning and Development, Jason MacDonald, pointed out the parking lot for the old hospital has already been given back to the town, which originally owned the property, so they can use the paved lot for the park.

The old hospital site contains 25 building lots, while the property across East Pleasant Street has room for a cul-du-sac with 16 lots. MacDonald explained the area would be particularly attractive to developers since it has streets on three sides, and a large number of lots.

He added a lot of money doesn't need to be spent on street construction for the area and the park would also be attractive to home-owners.

Although a concern was raised that the foundation may sell off the property in a piecemeal fashion, MacDonald felt this wouldn't be the case because the foundation has been mandated with the task of selling off the land to attain the most money possible to by equipment for the hospital.

He pointed out they wouldn't want to become properly developers themselves.

In materials prepared for the planning committee, assistant planner Tim Lefurgy noted the area of Amherst where the old hospital site is located is under development pressure from residential developers and it makes sense to rezone the property to residential.

"Doing so would allow a residential developer to market this site and potentially increase home ownership in Amherst," he said.

Lefurgy noted Operational Services have indicated the existing water and sewer services in the area have sufficient capacity to accommodate a housing development and the existing streets can handle the traffic generated by new residences.