Council owes public a chance to discuss proposal

LEDGER EDITORIAL, May 25

   Capital Health System wants to bring a state-of-the-art hospital to a 32-acre site on Princess Road, off Franklin Corner Road, located minutes from the front doors of most Lawrence residents.
   When CHS proposed, in January 2005, to build a 600,000-square-foot hospital and neonatal unit and to close its Mercer hospital on Bellevue Avenue in Trenton, we expected lots of questions and discussion from township officials and residents.
   Having a full-service hospital in the township could be a huge benefit to Lawrence residents, who now must travel to Trenton, Hamilton or Princeton for hospital services.
   Another view, one shared by township officials, is that the proposed hospital would generate too many traffic woes for Princeton Pike and the surrounding neighborhoods.
   We also expected the Township Council, perhaps the township Planning Board or the township Zoning Board of Adjustment to take up these serious questions — traffic implications, changes to the zoning for the site, the impact of a large nonprofit institution on property-tax rates — at public meetings.
   That apparently was too much to expect from Township Council.
   In the 18 months since CHS announced its plans, the council has not held one public discussion of the CHS plan.
   Township Manager Richard Krawzcun, at the behest of the duly elected Township Council, sent a letter on May 15 to the State Health Planning Board opposing Capital Health’s certificate of need application for the new hospital. The state board will recommend whether to support the CHS application, or not, to state Commissioner of Health Fred M. Jacobs, who has the final say. The state Health Planning Board will hear the application on June 1.
   The township’s position is that its residents are well-served by the existing hospitals in Mercer County and the plan would be too intense a use for the Princess Road site.
   The council has had internal discussions about the township’s position but no conversations with the public before sending the letter.
   Township officials did meet with Capital Health officials — and grew concerned as the plan grew to include a six- or seven-story building with as many as 500 hospital beds, a parking garage and a regional cancer treatment center. (The council and administration did respond to a question raised by a resident about the letter at the council’s meeting Tuesday.)
   Mayor Michael Powers, who lives in a neighborhood bordering Princeton Pike, said Tuesday that he has "a finger on the pulse of community," which does not want a hospital. He said he bases his view on informal meetings with residents.
   Since the council plays no role in determining the certificate of need Capital Health must obtain to proceed with its plans, a public forum "will create confusion," the mayor said.
   What an insult to the intelligence of Lawrence voters, who we suspect would rather have their elected officials take an accurate reading of the community’s views before opposing the CHS plan.
   The council has nothing to lose by holding a public forum explaining the township’s role in the process and asking residents to air their concerns.
   This is not a housing subdivision or fast-food restaurant application, but a potential change to the township that will affect the next 50 years.
   Basing a critical decision on a gut feeling or from discussions at coffee klatches or impromptu neighborhood meetings is poor policy. We urge the mayor and Township Council to hold a public forum.
   The Township Council risks squandering the trust of residents by rejecting the hospital based on a traffic report that no one outside the Municipal Building has seen, and relying on "the pulse of the community."