Plans for new Hillsborough Hospital one step closer to reality

Plans for a replacement for P.E.I.'s Hillsborough Hospital have taken a step forward.

On Monday night, Charlottetown city council unanimously voted to approve a rezoning application from the province that will allow the building of a new facility in the area.

The plan presented to council includes a new two-storey mental health and addictions acute-care facility, an addictions and recovery centre, and 10 additional buildings which would have a mix of residential and commercial uses.

In order for that plan to become reality, council needed to rezone two parcels of land, on Murchison Lane and Deacon Grove Lane.

Council's approval of that rezoning was an important part of the plan, said Coun. Greg Rivard, chair of planning and heritage.

"There are certain components of the project, I believe, they could have done as of right under the zoning that they had," he said.

"There was other pieces of the project, I think in the future, that the province were hoping to do that would require a zoning change at some point."

Public meeting held

The resolution did go to a public meeting, where there were concerns about the traffic flow and the environmental impact of the building on the area, said Rivard.  

At council on Monday, Coun. Terry Bernard brought the issue of traffic up once more, citing the growth in that area. With the school and new housing units, traffic is already increasing.

Rivard said the project might present some traffic challenges.

"It would certainly steer traffic through a residential area, which is not ideal," he said.

Traffic from the development would travel up to Patterson Drive, or down to the intersection on Murchison and Highway 1, the main entrance intersection to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Any modifications to Patterson Drive, Rivard said, would have to be done in conjunction with the province because it exits onto the bypass, which is provincial jurisdiction  Rivard said he gets the sense that the province and the city will be able to work together in order to deal with any potential traffic problems that might arise. 

"When talking with the province, you know, there certainly seems to be an appetite for cooperation," he said.

Next Steps

The rezoning still needs to receive a second reading by council, but once that's done, it's out of the city's hands, said Rivard. 

"From a council perspective,  … unless they change their site plan or change their concept plan, really council is done," he said. 

"It's a wonderful addition to the city, there's no doubt about it. It's much needed."

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