A proposal for a new behavioral health center on S. Carlin Springs Road is facing pushback on environmental impacts and effects on the surrounding neighborhood.
Misgivings about the 146-bed, 131,000-square-foot development proposal from VHC Health and Lifepoint Health made their way into discussions at the March 26 meeting of the county’s Forestry & Natural Resources Commission.
Sarah Muros, who lives near the project site at 5th Road S., raised concerns about water runoff, tree preservation, light pollution, impact on adjoining parkland and traffic/pedestrian impacts.
Muros, speaking on behalf of the Glencarlyn Civic Association, asked the panel to take a deeper look into “the environmental impact of such a huge building that is really oriented toward a residential area as opposed to orienting it toward Carlin Springs.”
Her concerns resonated with commission member David Howell, who serves as the body’s liaison to the project.
Howell said he was “very disappointed” in the most recent incarnation of the development proposal.
“The plan, two years ago, the preliminary plan, when this was first floated as a project, actually was much better and didn’t have as many of the issues,” he said.
In his remarks, Howell acknowledged that the construction environment had changed since the original proposal was made.
“In the meantime, the cost of building has gotten more expensive,” he said.
Muros brought the topic up during the public-comment portion of the commission meeting. VHC Health officials were not present.
After some questions and comments from commission members, chair Caroline Haynes cut the discussion short.
“If it’s not on the agenda, we don’t want to be having this conversation,” she said, while promising the group would take a further look at the matter.
“We are paying attention,” Haynes said.
The same night that Muros was speaking to the Forestry & Natural Resources Commission, Glencarlyn Civic Association president Brandon Hemel spoke during the public-comment period of the Park and Recreation Commission.
Hemel told ARLnow there are many areas of the proposal where the association believes revisions are needed.
“We have concerns about light spillage from the front of the building towards 5th Road S., traffic management and flow with the proposed second driveway on S. Carlin Springs Road, the increase in impervious surfaces, and added bike trail from the site to 5th Road S. near the Moses Ball Spring,” he said.
The county government and VHC Health will hold a “community kickoff” for the project on Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Bozman Government Center.
At the event, there will be presentations on current plans and the chance for questions related to the 5.8-acre site.
On Feb. 23, county officials formally accepted the site plan request from VHC Health and Lifepoint Health. That sets the stage for the formal review process to begin.
The review will include online community engagement, a walking tour of the site and creation of a site plan review committee to focus on the parcel. The review committee will include representation from the Glencarlyn, Arlington Mill and Forest Glen civic associations, along with county advisory bodies.
County commissions will also have the chance to weigh in before final consideration by the Planning Commission and County Board. Under the current timetable, final action is possible by the end of the year.
After a meeting between the development partners and local residents last August, then-County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said it was premature for elected officials to weigh in on the proposal.
“Staff will work with the community to mitigate concerns that may arise,” he told ARLnow at the time.
The S. Carlin Springs Road site has a complicated ownership history, but has housed medical facilities since the late 1970s. It was once home to Northern Virginia Doctors Medical Hospital.
In 2019, the county government purchased the property from VHC Health as part of a land-swap agreement. Less than four years later, county officials announced that the health-care organization was seeking to purchase part of the parcel back for both inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services.
At the time of the 2023 announcement, the proposed timeline called for groundbreaking on the new facility by early 2024 and project completion by late 2025.
Under current planning, approval of the project by the County Board by late 2026 likely would result in an opening by sometime in 2027.
