The D.C. Zoning Commission last week asked Sibley Hospital to revise designs for a new medical office building on its Northwest campus, taking the side of neighbors who claimed the proposal would spark a traffic nightmare.
Commissioners directed the hospital in the Palisades community to come back with a less intrusive proposal than the six-story building and associated 750-space parking garage on the table. They did not vote on the project.
Sibley Neighbors for Responsible Growth, a 100-member community organization created to fight the undertaking, argued traffic to and from dozens of new physicians’ offices would overwhelm the area’s already crowded roads.
The group, which included such well-known Washingtonians as Tim Russert and Bruce Babbitt, hired a lawyer and planner to make its argument.
“I felt we presented a really strong case,” said Adele Harrell, co-founder of the organization. “It was really very gratifying that they heard us so clearly.”
The facility was to house 75 physician offices, delivering a reliable revenue stream and providing patients with easy access to their doctors and diagnostic testing, the hospital argued.
Jerry Price, Sibley’s chief operating officer, said the hospital is studying its options. It didn’t make financial sense, he said, to further reduce the size of the medical office building or curtail the number of physicians who would work there.
“I was surprised,” Price said. “We played it really straight. We did everything we were supposed to do.”
The decision was even more jolting, he said, given the hospital had the backing of multiple neighborhood associations, the D.C. Department of Transportation and the Department of Planning.
Rachel Thompson, chair of the Palisades Advisory Neighborhood Commission, was pleasantly shocked by the decision.
“It was a complete and utter surprise and a huge credit to the neighbors’ group, who put on a great case,” Thompson said.
