Map courtesy of city of Hoover
Grandview Medical Center wants to put a stand-alone emergency department at 2137 Valleydale Road, across from Southlake in the area shown in yellow.
The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday voted 8-0 to recommend the Hoover City Council approve a stand-alone emergency department for Grandview Medical Center on Valleydale Road near Interstate 65.
The proposed emergency department would be on the south side of Valleydale Road, between the traffic lights at the westernmost entrance to the Southlake community and the Lowe’s Home Improvement store, right next to the Circle K gasoline station and convenience store.
Grandview received state approval for its 11,430-square-foot emergency department at 2137 Valleydale Road in May 2024. The city of Hoover, the Hoover Health Care Authority and area fire and rescue departments supported the location. But the development requires official conditional use approval by the City Council, and the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission makes a recommendation to the City Council.
There are two access points proposed for the new stand-alone emergency department on Valleydale Road, one at the traffic light leading to the Southlake community and a right-in, right-out access point between that traffic light and the traffic light at Lowe’s.
Site plan courtesy of city of Hoover
This is the site plan for Grandview Medical Center's proposed stand-alone emergency department at 2137 Valleydale Road in Hoover, Alabama.
That section of road had about 25,000 vehicles per day in 2024, according to traffic counts done by the Alabama Department of Transportation, and the stand-alone emergency department is expected to generate another 20 vehicles per hour in the peak traffic hours of 7:15-8:15 a.m. and 4-5 p.m., according to a traffic study done by KCI Technologies.
About 60% of the new traffic would be expected to use roads west of the development, while 35% likely would use Valleydale to the east of the development and 5% would use Southlake Parkway to get to and from the development, the study says.
Planning Commissioner Becky White, who specializes in traffic planning, asked Grandview’s representative at Monday’s meeting why a second exit from the facility was necessary and if a right-in only had been considered for the second access point. The amount of traffic to be generated by the facility didn’t seem to warrant a second exit, she said.
Ian Anderson, a representative for Grandview, said ambulances coming to the emergency department need quick ways to get in and out, and the proposed access points provide that, given the facility’s design. Also, It’s good to have two exits for emergency vehicles in case the exit at the traffic light at the Southlake entrance gets blocked by an accident, he said.
Hoover Councilwoman Khristi Driver, who also is a member of the planning commission, asked about property to the south of the proposed emergency department.
City Planner Mac Martin said property to the south is in Indian Springs Village and zoned for single-family residential use. Anyone within 500 feet of the emergency department site was notified about the zoning request, he said.
Also, the emergency department is required to have a 25-foot undisturbed buffer between itself and the residential property, plus a 25-foot area where disturbed land is replaced by landscaping, Martin said. The emergency department plans to put a mix of replacement trees in that additional buffer zone, he said.
Anderson noted that the emergency department would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and is required by the state to have a helipad. It also will have more than 50 parking spaces, he said.
The Hoover City Council is slated to have a first reading of the proposal on July 27 and a potential vote on Aug. 10.
If approved by the City Council, construction on the emergency department is expected to be completed by 2029, the traffic study says.
In other business Monday, the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission approved proposed improvements to the intersection of Blackridge Parkway and Morgan Road in connection with a section of Blackridge that will be across Morgan Road in the Helena city limits.
That sector will have 46 lots and should have homes similar in size to the homes in the Bradbury sector of Blackridge, Signature Homes CEO Jonathan Belcher said. The lots will be roughly 60 or 65 feet wide and 125 feet deep, and a handful will have basements, Belcher said.
Site work should begin on that sector in about 30 days, and homes should start being constructed this time next year, Belcher said.
Both Hoover and Shelby County will be requiring a study to determine if a traffic light is merited at the intersection of Blackridge Parkway and Morgan Road, but Belcher said Shelby County will not require installation of any merited traffic signal until the development is 100% complete.
The planning commission also on Monday:
- Recommended the City Council give approval for Key Advantage Home Care to operate a daytime habilitation and respite services program for people with developmental disabilities at 3309 Lorna Road, Suite 203, in the Village on Lorna shopping center
- Gave approval for Altec Industries to combine two lots at 33 Inverness Center Parkway between Inverness Center Parkway and Heather Lake into one lot. The lots are zoned for planned office use.
- Designated six lots in The Preserve community near the intersection of Preserve Way, Restoration Drive and Village Green Way (lots 510, 511, 536, 537, 618 and 619) as cottage lots
- Approved 47 new residential lots in Phase 5C, Sector 1 of the Everlee community, north of Olivewood Drive
- Approved a esurvey five lots on Blackridge Circle (lots 355-359) into four lots
- Vacated and dedicated a sewer easement at 1798 Glasscott Trail in the Ross Bridge community
- Altered the lot lines between lots 12 and 13 in Cahaba River Estates (1162 and 1180 Cahaba River Estates)
- Reconfigured the lot lines for lot 2159 and created a common area at the end of Butler Road in the Blackridge community
