A contentious relationship between Suburban Hospital and its Bethesda neighbors deepened Monday, as a County Council committee approved the hospital’s requested road closure and residents reaffirmed their disapproval by committing to continuing litigation.

The Montgomery County Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee unanimously approved a request by Suburban to close one block of Lincoln Street, between Old Georgetown Road and Grant Street. Hospital officials say the closure is necessary to build a $230 million, 300,0000-square-foot expansion.

The vote was the penultimate required from the council to close the block the full council will take action on the request Tuesday. The hospital first began talks about the expansion plan in 2001 and in 2008 proposed abandoning the block on Lincoln Street.

The committee’s vote came the same day the Huntington Terrace Citizens’ Association announced its plans to bring to the Court of Special Appeals a decision by the county board of appeals that said the hospital could move forward with its expansion and demolish 10 houses to accommodate infrastructure. Montgomery County Circuit Court denied the association’s appeal of that decision June 30.

“Unfortunately, we have no alternative,” said Bob Deans, who serves on the association’s board of directors. “It’s not our first option. It’s our last resort.”

Under county code, the hospital cannot move forward with the road closure until all appeals are settled.

Suburban spokeswoman Ronna Borenstein-Levy said the hospital is pleased with the committee’s decision and said she hoped future appeals would not delay the hospital’s project.

“We would hope there are not actions that would require a delay in the process, but we will take it one step at a time,” she said. “It’s all about patient care the sooner we can move forward, the sooner our patients will benefit.”

Communication or lack thereof between Suburban Hospital and the citizens association was at the heart of the debate at Monday’s committee session.

Among the citizens association’s concerns is that the hospital has not been willing to meet with the neighborhood to talk about the expansion.

Barbara Sears, an attorney for the hospital, said the hospital has held more than 35 meetings that were either with Huntington Terrace or open for them to attend.

At Monday’s committee work session, association president Amy Shiman and an attorney for the association, Norman G. Knopf, said those meetings were not specifically about the expansion design. They asked council members to include as a condition of their approval that the hospital be required to meet with the neighborhood.

The committee’s three council members, Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac, Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park and Hans Riemer (D-At large) of Silver Spring, agreed that the groups should improve communication, in the interest of a healthy, neighborly relationship, but stopped short of requiring it in their action.

Instructing the hospital to meet with the neighborhood association would be an action beyond the scope of the measure up for vote to determine whether the section of Lincoln Street qualifies for abandonment, Berliner said.

To close a road, reports must show that the road is either no longer necessary for present or anticipated public use or that its closure is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents. Glenn Orlin, deputy council staff director, wrote in his report to the committee that the proposed abandonment meets both those criteria because about 83 percent of its traffic comes from the hospital, not from the neighborhood, and because neighbors have more to gain by improved medical care.

“I know the community is not going to be pleased with our actions here and I know this has been particularly polarizing,” Berliner said.

“I do hope that you find a way to heal these wounds and work collectively,” he added.

sgantz@gazette.net