St. Luke’s to appeal MOB denial
Cites ‘legal,’ ‘procedural’ violations
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Two minutes after the paper’s deadline yesterday, St. Luke’s
Wood River Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Jon Moses faxed the Idaho Mountain
Express a letter announcing the hospital had decided to appeal the county’s
recent denial of its proposed medical office building.
"The hospital intends to cite numerous legal and procedural
violations as grounds for the appeal," the letter said.
Motivating the appeal, the letter said, "hospital officials believe
that although Idaho law clearly directs zoning officials to base their decisions on
objective criteria, several facts were dismissed by the planning and zoning commission in
its decision process."
The letter said St. Luke’s officials would not provide further
details "regarding this decision [to appeal] or the legal basis for our appeal"
until Friday.
St. Luke’s announcement follows the May 18 county planning and zoning
commission denial of the 40,000-square-foot office structure. The hospital had just two
days left before the deadline to file an appeal.
St. Luke’s argued throughout the several-month application process
that its new hospital cannot be financially viable without the adjacent office building.
Last week, St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center Ed Dahlberg, in a rare
local appearance, told the Blaine County commissioners that the hospital corporation could
leave the valley "high and dry" if its new medical complex south of Ketchum
proves not to be financially viable.
Dahlberg said a repurchase agreement among Sun Valley, the county and St.
Luke’s provides the hospital with an opportunity to leave the county if faced with
financial problems.
During a telephone interview yesterday, county P&Z administrator
Deborah Vignes said the appeal process will involve one or more public meetings, during
which the Blaine County Board of Commissioners must consider records of P&Z
considerations leading to the denial. Those records are contained in a 4-inch-thick
binder, she said.
Because the appeal is a public process, but not a public hearing, Vignes
said, no new evidence can be offered by any involved party.
Both St. Luke’s and P&Z will be allowed, however, to submit a
10-page brief and to make a 10-minute verbal presentation to the commission, Vignes said.
Vignes said the commissioners must consider only two questions when
deciding the appeal: Was the process correct? Is there adequate evidence in the record to
support the P&Z denial?
If St. Luke’s loses the appeal, it will be able to file another
appeal in Fifth District Court, Vignes said.
