VHC Health (Virginia Hospital Center) will be back in front of the Arlington County Board on July 22 in a bid to win approval for a 17,000-square-foot increase in interior space at its main campus in the 1800 block of North George Mason Drive.
County Board members on June 15 voted 4-1 to defer the request, not owing to any concerns specifically with the proposal but due to ongoing contentious relations between the hospital and neighboring communities.
A second reason for the deferral: Documents related to the request only were made public by the county government two days before the June 15 meeting, leading to howls from neighbors.
The hospital is seeking approval for a 1.6-percent increase in overall interior space on its George Mason campus.
While the hospital has been on the site since the 1940s, its recent $250 million expansion led at times to a corrosive relationship with nearby residents.
Although County Board Chairman Libby Garvey in June cast the lone vote against a delay in considering the proposal – wanting to approve it – she acknowledged that relations between the hospital and surrounding communities need an “intervention.”
