The council could see the request as early as May if it clears the planning board and staff reviews.

“We’ve really paid attention to what Clemmons says they want,” said Novant spokesman Cynthia Charles.

Novant plans to spend $750,000 to upgrade the dam on an existing 17-acre pond and donate that land to the village. Walking trails will circle the pond. Architect Doug Stimmel of Stimmel Associates P.A. of Winston-Salem said many ideas for the development came from the village’s own development guidelines for the proposed Village Pointe area that has never been built in the area between Harper and Lewisville-Clemmons roads on the north side of I-40. Novant also read newspaper headlines.

In a news story in The Courier last summer, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools assistant superintendent, Darrell Walker last year lamented the lack of available building sites for new schools in Clemmons. Novant included a 16-acre site for an elementary school beside the hospital and has offered it to the school system.

“It’s not a coincidence,” Charles said. “For more than a year we’ve been listening. We’ve really paid attention to what Clemmons says they want.”

A letter of intent to purchase is being finalized with the school system. Theo Helm, spokesman for the school system, said a final deal hasn’t been struck. “We are currently negotiating with Novant for an option to buy almost 17 acres of land on their site for an elementary school,” he said Monday. “Money for the school and land was included in the bond referendum approved by voters in 2006. Because we are still negotiating, we don’t have a price on it yet.”

Several other tracts will be available for other institutional development such as physician offices. The project has put Novant Health in the unusual position of being a land developer, but Stimmel said that was necessary to resolve neighbors’ concerns. “I think they (Novant) have gone the extra mile in Clemmons because they want to resolve the traffic issue on Harper Road,” he said. “They wouldn’t typically have bought this much acreage.”

Novant and the school system would be responsible for building a road parallel to Harper so the existing road could continue to serve the residential traffic. A large circle would be built at the existing sharp curve on Harper to slow down traffic going to the school.

“It’s a unique road plan you haven’t seen in Clemmons yet,” Stimmel said. In Forsyth County, Stimmel has designed many industrial, business and landscaping projects including the new Dash baseball stadium under construction in downtown Winston-Salem, the Union Cross Business Park, the Allegacy Credit Union Corporate Office and others. The firm also designed the Southern Village residential village in Chapel Hill. The Novant project would require nearly a half million dollars to be spent on trees, he said. Also, the hospital and school would be built close to the highway with parking in the rear, as recommended in the village’s development guidelines.

Charles said the school site would relieve crowding at the other area schools and is exactly where the school system needs a new elementary school. The school site is the first of two phases Novant has submitted to the village for approval.

For Novant, the zoning change would help clear the path for building its second satellite hospital in Forsyth County. Another 50-bed, $100 million structure is going up in Kernersville, also overlooking I-40.

Stimmel said the community hospitals would be nothing like their mother ship, the 950-bed Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, but they will both help the communities in more ways than one.

“These are good jobs that should be here for the long term,” Charles said, estimating the hospital would employ 400 people. Forsyth Memorial pays an average wage of $22 per hour.

The Clemmons hospital already has a potential new neighbor. The Lutheran Homes, new owner of The Elms of Tanglewood, has filed a zoning request to build an expansion nursing home on Harper Road, across the street from where the hospital would be built. Charles said the small hospital would be an excellent option for the elderly who have difficulty navigating the large Forsyth Hospital’s parking decks. “But younger people would like the convenience too,” she said.

“This is not just a hospital for seniors. It’s a hospital for everybody,” Charles said. “The need for hospitals is going to remain strong.”

While Novant’s plans will have to clear the Clemmons council, it also has a roadblock in the form of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center’s plan to build its own satellite hospital in Davie County.

The two hospital giants spent last year battling for state approval to build. Both received the state’s nod. Baptist is appealing the decision for Novant. Charles said negotiations are in the works between the two hospitals.

“We’ve been having good dialogue with them,” she said. “We’re optimistic outstanding issues will be resolved. Our position is still to build them both. We believe the state, by approving both, shows the need.”

The zoning request promises to face some local opposition. The Pro-Active Citizens for Clemmons has already said it opposes the zoning request. Clemmons council member Al Harbury founded the PACC and is still a member. Other council members have said they support building a hospital in Clemmons but have deferred commenting on the site plan until they saw it.

Charles said Novant has shown the plans to 320 homeowners in recent weeks in Waterford, Old Meadowbrook and other neighbors of the hospital site. She said a number of people have told her they looked hard for something to object to but couldn’t find anything.

The school site could potentially be linked by trail to the West Forsyth Family YMCA, Stimmel said. Also, the bike paths could be linked to Tanglewood Park. A two-story school structure is being considered that would evoke memories of schools from another era. Similarly, the hospital design would be crafted to have a look unique to Clemmons. Huntsville’s similar hospital is already slated for expansion, and Charles predicted Clemmons would share in that community’s experience with Novant.

“I think they would say we’re a good neighbor,” she said. Novant Medical Group now ranks among industry leaders as the fifth largest medical group in the nation. In a recently released report conducted by independent research firm SK&A Healthcare Information Solutions, NMG was listed as having the most physician offices of any medical group in the country with a total of 303 located across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Since the report was released, NMG has grown to 361 office locations and more than 1,000 physician partners.

Hospital affiliates include Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte area; Forsyth Medical Center and Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem; Thomasville Medical Center in Thomasville; Brunswick Community Hospital in Supply; and Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury.

Novant plans several public discussions about its plans including a meeting with the Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce next week. The chamber meets at River Oaks Community Church for lunch next Tuesday.