All 12 of the commenters who addressed the Fredericksburg Planning Commission during its meeting on Wednesday night expressed reservations about Mary Washington Healthcare’s plans to demolish the Kids’ Station childcare center as part of its proposed zoning map amendment.
But one in particular said she stands to lose sleep over the phased construction if it is allowed to commence as planned.
“So what about all the noise and dust at naptime?” asked 5-year-old Lydia Fallon, who said she attends Kids’ Station. “People won’t be able to sleep because of the noise. What I’m wondering about is if they could tell UMW… I mean Mary Washington to probably wait.”
Following nearly two hours of contentious discussion and occasionally combative exchanges between commissioners and MWHC Chief of Staff Summer Hughes, the planning commission did just that, extending the public hearing two weeks to its May 8 meeting, at which time it will make its nonbinding recommendation to city council.
In an opening presentation, Fredericksburg Zoning Administrator Kelly Machen recommended approving the amendment — which includes a 6,000-square-foot addition to Snowden House at 2600 Mary Washington Boulevard and the construction of a two-story, 24,500-square foot medical clinic at the site of the current daycare center and a three-story office building and convention center on a parcel of land between the daycare and Snowden.
The General Development Plan for the MWHC hospital campus, which sits on 60 acres, was last amended in 1993, Machen said. The proposed amendment concerns 16 of those acres.
The first phase of the plan would include the construction of the conference center and Snowden House renovations with an estimated timeframe of August 2024-December 2025. Phase Two, which is slated to run from September 2025 to December 2025, would include work on biofilters and utilities.
“Through phases one and two, Kids’ Station would be able to remain open,” Machen said.
Demolition of the daycare center would coincide with Phase Three, which is estimated to take place September 2025 through December 2026 — though portions of the playground would be razed at an earlier point during construction, Machen said.
Most of the commissioners’ questions for Machen were technical in nature and concerned parking or, in one case, the replacement of a Magnolia, which is considered by the city to be a specimen tree.
Then Hughes came to the dais.
“We’re very excited about this proposed GDP modification,” she said.
The commissioners were somewhat less enthused about various aspects of the plan.
Dugan Caswell referenced the potential hazards of operating a daycare center surrounded by an active construction site.
“What plans do you guys have to mitigate any dangers like that?” Caswell asked Hughes.
Hughes replied that the plans provide adequate delineation and buffers from construction by “truncating” about 30 feet of existing playground space, eliminating two swing sets.
Caswell also asked Hughes whether KinderCare, which has operated Kids’ Station since 2021, has found a replacement site for a Fredericksburg daycare facility. He also suggested a KinderCare representative attend the next public hearing.
“I’m not part of their decision-making process,” Hughes said. “I know that they’re working towards that. We have been in communication with them, but I’m not sure that they’re ready to announce any completed plan at this point.”
Multiple commissioners asked Hughes whether other parcels within the MWHC campus were considered for the two-story medical clinic. Chairperson David Durham said he assumed that the location was chosen because it lies within 250 yards of the main hospital campus, allowing for higher Medicare reimbursement rates.
While Hughes didn’t dispute that motivation, she countered that the location was also ideal for a clinic because it provided the ability for medical residents to move from the clinic to the hospital with ease.
“That’s important for how we function as a health system,” she said. “Ensuring that our physicians who do work with the hospital can go walk back and forth from the clinic to the hospital.”
Durham followed up by asking if any other parcels on the campus fit those two criteria.
“I don’t know,” Hughes said.
Asked about specific plans for Snowden House once renovations have been completed, Hughes said: “There’s no identified occupant for the residence.” 
Commissioner Kenneth Gantt criticized what he considered a lack of community input solicited by MWHC during the early stages of the planning process, which Hughes said began in 2021.
“It seems that there was a unilateral decision that you wanted to expand, and that’s what you’re doing,” Gantt said. “I’m just not satisfied at this particular point that the hospital — which is a huge community entity — just did this, and basically the community was not involved.”
Gantt then asked Hughes directly whether MWHC consulted its staff or families at Kids’ Station before setting its plans into motion.
“I am not aware of any of those conversations,” she replied.
Before she helped lower the microphone for her daughter, Fredericksburg resident Hannah Fallon took the dais herself to share concerns about Kids’ Station remaining open during construction.
Fallon explained that since Kids’ Station caters to several different age groups, it also has separate play areas with age-specific equipment.
“I think that removing the area where the older children can play is going to be a big issue,” said Fallon, who added that her family has been using Kids’ Station for daycare for the past 10 years.
Fallon also referenced detailed state regulations for daycare centers as a factor that could delay KinderCare’s procurement of a suitable replacement center.
“There’s so much minutia that goes into planning a daycare center,” Fallon said. “It seems like something that takes quite some time to do… As they find a location, they’re going to have to do a whole lot of renovations or construction to actually meet the state regulations for a daycare.”
One of the 10 emails read aloud for commissioners came from former City Councilor Debby Girvan. Girvan noted that during her term in the early 2000s, city council voted unanimously to grant MWHC tax-exempt status. Girvan wrote that she based her decision on the hospital system’s financial contributions to the community under former CEO Fred Rankin.
“Today, I regret that vote,” she wrote.
Joseph Wilson, who is both a Kids’ Station parent and the spouse of a MWHC worker, wrote that while he has sought daycare alternatives since the February announcement that Kids’ Station would close, they’ve yet to find one that doesn’t add 30 minutes to his family’s daily routine.
“Every other daycare option that I identified would require me to drive several miles out of the city to drop off or pick up my child,” Wilson wrote. “I’m sure that my family is in a similar boat to other parents who live in Fredericksburg.”
In his email, Thomas Moran lampooned the reality of Kids’ Station remaining open during phases one and two.
“Yes, the kids can play on half the playground while construction equipment passes by,” Moran wrote. “They can learn social skills and have storytime with the backup beeps and diesel fuel of heavy equipment right out the window.”
At the conclusion of the public comment portion of the meeting, Durham asked Hughes if she was prepared for the commission to make its recommendation or whether the questions asked by commissioners and during the public hearing necessitated a two-week delay.
According to state law, the planning commission has 100 days from the start of a public hearing to make its advisory recommendation to city council.
“We’re prepared to act,” Hughes said. “We would like to move forward.”
At that point, Director of Planning Chuck Johnston swiveled in his chair to face Hughes.
“Let me speak more candidly than I think the chairman maybe should be,” Johnston said. “I’m hearing a lot of hesitancy on [behalf of] the members of the commission. If they take a vote tonight, there’s a possibility they could recommend against this, which is not a good thing.”
Suddenly, patience was a virtue shared by the region’s largest nonprofit hospital system.
“If you feel like you need more time, we can come back in two weeks,” Hughes replied.
Mary Washington Healthcare, an individual or organization central to this story, is a major donor to the Free Press. Donors do not influence newsroom operations.
