Plans for proposed hospital in Franklin need more work

A plan for a proposed new hospital in Carbon County has quite a few areas that must be addressed before construction can begin, Carbon officials say.

The Carbon County Planning Commission met on Tuesday but did not have a quorum to make a recommendation on the review of the plans submitted by St. Luke’s University Health Network regarding its proposed Blue Mountain campus in Franklin Township.

Under the code of the commission, the county commissioners must then sign off on the plan review so that municipalities can receive comments on the projects without the process being held up until the commission can hold another meeting. Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein signed off on the commission’s reviews later that day, making the commission’s recommendations official.

According to the plans submitted to the county, St. Luke’s is proposing constructing a three-story, 130,000-square-foot hospital at the intersection of North Harrity Road and Reber Street in Franklin Township.

The commission states in its review that “the plans as submitted do not conform to preliminary and/or final plan requirements of the Franklin Township Land Development ordinances,” noting that the review should preclude any recommendation of approval by Franklin Township.

It outlines 27 issues in the plan that should be addressed, including items such as obtaining a highway occupancy permit, NPDES permit, fire hydrants and proposed PPL service to the site.

The commission’s review neither made a recommendation to approve nor deny the project.

Earlier this month, Franklin Township Planning Commission met with hospital representatives to discuss preliminary final plans for the project.

No vote was taken at that time because comments from the township engineer were not available, as well as those from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Carbon County Conservation District.

At that meeting, officials told Franklin Township that the plans are nearly identical to St. Luke’s Monroe Campus in Stroudsburg and Anderson Campus in Easton.

The hospital will begin with 40 bedrooms and eventually have 80. St. Luke’s expects to employ 200 people at the new facility to start. The lot will have 535 parking spots.