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Wetland issues could bog down plans for medical center in northern Summit
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
TWINSBURG: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's plan for a new hospital in northern Summit County faces a potential environmental roadblock: wetlands.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has ''significant concerns'' over the clinic's plan for the $71.5 million outpatient medical center and 24-hour emergency room off Darrow Road (state Route 91) south of Interstate 480, EPA staffer Steve Tuckerman said on Wednesday.
Asked whether the agency's concerns are big enough to threaten the project, Tuckerman repeated that the agency has ''significant concerns.''
EPA staffer Mike Settles said the agency does not feel that the wetland problems threaten the facility, which would be called the Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg Family Health and Surgery Center.
Plans call for a four-story building with 168,500 square feet. It could open in late 2009. It would create 300 jobs, $600,000 in local payroll taxes and $1.3 million in state payroll taxes.
The clinic needs approval from the Ohio EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill in wetlands and small streams.
The EPA is not satisfied with the clinic's plans to protect high-quality wetlands and rare cold-water springs that feed small streams that drain to nearby Tinkers Creek, a major Cuyahoga River tributary, Tuckerman said.
The cold-water springs, a type of headwater stream, are special and create habitats that are unusual in Northeast Ohio, he said.
The problem is that building on the 86-acre tract without causing environmental issues will be difficult, he said.
Similar springs exist at Liberty Park, operated by Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, and the city of Twinsburg. The park lies in Twinsburg, Twinsburg Township and Reminderville.
''It will be very difficult for the clinic to demonstrate that their plans will have no adverse impacts on surface water,'' Tuckerman said before a wetlands hearing on the facility Wednesday evening.
The clinic ''took significant efforts to avoid wetlands but still concerns remain,'' he said.
The EPA has discussed its concerns at a number of meetings with clinic officials and their consultants, he said.
The two sides are continuing to meet to try to resolve the EPA's concerns, he said.
The clinic and the EPA are still trying to determine whether one area of affected wetlands is a Class 3 (the highest quality) wetlands, said EPA staffer Joe Loucek.
The EPA's Twinsburg district staffers will make a recommendation to EPA Director Chris Korleski on whether the clinic should be granted what's called a 401 water quality certificate. The final decision rests with Korleski.
He could approve the certificate if he decides that building the medical facility is in the ''public good'' — even if high-quality wetlands and the springs are affected.
The clinic needs state approval before it can seek approval from the Corps of Engineers.
Brian Smith, the clinic's director of strategic project development, said the clinic is ''very optimistic'' that its plans will win Ohio wetland approval and expressed surprise at the agency's position.
The clinic has been sensitive to the effect its new hospital would have on wetlands and intends to protect 30 acres of wetlands, he said.
The clinic is still pursuing its preferred option and has not been asked by the EPA to change those plans, he said.
The clinic is seeking approval to fill in 3.14 acres of wetlands and 4,335 feet of streams.
It wants to preserve 33 acres through a conservation easement that might be held by a third-party agency like Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, Smith said.
The clinic would also pay to restore a section of Pond Brook, a stream in eastern Twinsburg that flows into Tinkers Creek.
The EPA's concerns were not raised at a public hearing Tuesday that drew four speakers. Joe Biaglow of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy suggested that the EPA approve a site plan that would minimize the effect on wetlands and the cold-water springs.
The EPA is accepting public comments about the plan until Aug. 27. Comments should be sent to Ohio EPA, Division of Surface Water. Attention: Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, OH 43216. The e-mail address is patti.smith@epa.state.oh.us. The fax number is 614-728-5299. The application and related materials are available for public review by calling 614-644-2001.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
TWINSBURG: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation's plan for a new hospital in northern Summit County faces a potential environmental roadblock: wetlands.
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