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Despite residents' claims that Suburban Hospital's expansion plans in Bethesda would be disastrous to the surrounding neighborhood, the Montgomery County Planning Board voted Sept. 25 to recommend closing one block of Lincoln Street and approval of a change to Suburban Hospital's special exception.

By a 3-2 vote, the board recommended approval of modifying the hospital's special exception for it to build 15 larger and more advanced surgical suites and single-patient rooms north of the hospital's campus on land in the Lincoln Street right of way. New parking spaces and hospital physician office space would also be built.

By a 4-1 vote, the board recommended approval of the closure of Lincoln Street off Old Georgetown Road, which the hospital said is necessary for its plans. This was also approved on the condition that McKinley Street must be widened to accommodate increased traffic.

"If this proposal is approved, it's not going to destroy the community," Board Vice Chairman John Robinson said.

Suburban Hospital has said its expansion plans are necessary to improve the quality of health care it provides to the county, where it is the state-designated trauma center. But nearby Huntington Terrace residents have argued that the hospital should be able to modernize without closing a block of Lincoln Street and destroying 23 homes, steps that they say would permanently damage the community in several ways.

If one block of Lincoln Street were to be closed, McKinley Street, just south of Suburban's campus, would have to be widened at the hospital's expense, the board voted. The board also recommended that the hospital not make future expansion efforts without seeking to amend the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan, and that planned parking spaces be moved further from Grant Street at the western end of the expansion.

Final say on the Lincoln Street closure rests with the County Council. The Board of Appeals has ultimate authority on the modification on Suburban Hospital's existing special exception, after receiving a recommendation from a hearing examiner. At this time, there are no scheduled votes on either matter.

Board Chairman Royce Hanson and Robinson said they recommended closing Lincoln Street "without a great deal of enthusiasm." Board members took the hospital to task for not considering its expansion plans more carefully and consulting further with neighbors in the surrounding Huntington Terrace community.

They also criticized the board's staff report, which recommended approval for the road closure and expansion plans, for failing to answer key questions.

"We're not doing a good job of protecting this neighborhood," said Commissioner Joe Alfandre, who voted for the road closure but against changing the special exception for the expansion plan.

But board members also said that while the destruction of 23 homes and partial closure of Lincoln Street would have a significant impact, it would not be fatal to the community. One board member seemed to take the opposite view of the expansion.

"I'm not sure it's not a good change," Commissioner Jean Cryor said, explaining her votes to recommend approval of the road closure and the expansion plan.

Hanson said he saw "no persuasive evidence" of any alternative plans for the hospital that would satisfy its needs. Residents said 2001 plans that would destroy only two homes and preserve Lincoln Street should be revived, but hospital officials said this would be impossible due to new health care standards.

Suburban Hospital representatives and supporters stressed the need to provide better care for patients and the community at large as the hospital aged and the community expanded.

As one example, Suburban Hospital President and CEO Brian Gragnolati emphasized the congestion at the hospital's current main entrance off Lincoln Street, where helicopters, ambulances, patients and pedestrians were crowded into one area. He said there were times when six to eight ambulances were "stacked up" at the entrance trying to deliver patients.

"It gets fairly chaotic," Gragnolati told board members.

But community members said a 155-0 vote against the plan at a Huntington Terrace community meeting and hundreds of letters submitted to the Planning Board proved there was overwhelming neighborhood opposition to the plan because of the impact on local traffic patterns, safety and quality of life. They also argued the area Master Plan discouraged demolishing homes to accommodate the hospital's plans.

"This is the biggest whopper yet," said David Mangurian, a former president of the Huntington Terrace Citizens Association.

Many residents said they understood and supported the hospital and its needs, but that land use planning and the need to preserve communities were more important in this case.

"This is not a meeting about the worthiness of Suburban Hospital," said Susan Snyder, a Garfield Street resident opposed to the expansion.