Washington Summit medical center gets approval

Craig Fox, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read
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Aug. 8—WATERTOWN — Developer Michael E. Lundy on Monday got the go-ahead to construct a 24,000-square-foot medical center at Washington Summit in the medical complex that he owns on outer Washington Street.

The project went through some changes. The facility will no longer be a 30,000-square-foot multi-tenant building, but will be the home of the medical center, with space for future expansion.

Jared Dickinson, an architectural draftsman for Lundy, said he could not identify the tenant on Monday.

But Lundy said last week that he would be able to release more information next month after he works out more details with the tenant about the building.

On Monday, the Planning Board approved the site plans for the medical center on the condition that the owner provides information about the exterior's colors and about installing a traffic sign.

During the meeting, two women involved in nearby businesses expressed concerns about traffic driving through the sprawling medical office complex.

Dr. Jill Laureano-Surber, who owns a medical practice in the nearby LaSur building, and Amanda Williams, property manager for 22670 Summit Drive, told the planning board that they've seen numerous minor accidents on a road leading to Samaritan Summit Village.

"We see accidents all the time," Johnson said.

Motorists get confused with what side of the road that they should drive on. A median divides the two sides of the road.

Some kind of sign is needed, they said.

Planning board members instructed that the developer needs to work out something with the town highway department to put up a sign at the entrance of the road.

They suggested a "Do Not Enter" sign with an arrow.

The 7-acre site will feature a terraced concept with the medical center at the top of the hill, a large retaining wall and parking lots behind it, another one on the side of the building and yet a larger one on the lower level of the hill.

A new road leading to the medical center from the other direction will be built and turned over to the town.

The medical center will be owned by Washington Summit, which would lease it to the tenant.