Hospital plan to be reviewed Tuesday during hearing at GHS

Rezoning request will be discussed at joint meeting of Village Board, commission

Ozaukee Press, November 20, 2007

By STEVE OSTERMANN
Ozaukee Press Staff

Local residents will have a second chance next week to review Aurora Health Cares plan to build a 480,000-square-foot hospital and medical center on Graftons east side.

A rezoning request to accommodate the project will be discussed during a 5 p.m. public hearing before a joint meeting of the Village Board and Plan Commission on Tuesday, Nov. 27, in the Grafton High School auditorium, 1950 Washington St.

In August, Aurora Health Care announced plans to purchase Advanced Healthcare and create a medical system that would build an 89-bed Grafton hospital in the I-43 freeway corridor. The four-story building has been proposed for 105 acres northwest of the intersection of Highway 60 and Port Washington Road.

Parking areas for more than 1,000 vehicles are planned on the eastern and southern sides of the medical complex.

The site is across the road from the Grafton Commons shopping center anchored by the Costco Wholesale Store.

In addition to rezoning for a planned unit development, the hospital project requires the annexation of 76 acres in the Town of Grafton to the village. An additional 29 acres at the site is already in the village.

The Village Board and Plan Commission will not take any action Tuesday. However, the commission is scheduled to hold a special meeting Dec. 14 to make recommendations on the rezoning and annexation requests.

The board could act on both requests as well as a preannexation agreement and certified survey map as early as Dec. 17.

Tuesdays hearing was moved from the Village Hall to the school auditorium in anticipation of a large crowd.

Because it is a significant project that will have a major impact on the community, a joint meeting of the Plan Commission and Village Board was scheduled to give residents a chance to ask questions and make comments, Village Administrator Darrell Hofland said.

In October, about 70 people attended a meeting during which the Plan Commission gave a concept plan for the project a largely favorable review. Several Grafton officials, including Village President Jim Brunnquell, said the project is consistent with the villages master plan for development of the I-43/Port Washington Road corridor, and the hospital would be an asset to the community and surrounding area.

Other officials and some residents have questioned the need for a hospital in Grafton when there is another one Columbia St. Marys Ozaukee just several miles to the south in Mequon. The Mequon hospital recently expanded its operations to 159 beds.