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Fayette Community Hospital

is ready to grow again, by annexation, and Fayetteville's mayor says the

city is ready to accommodate the expansion.

Hospital officials have asked

the City of Fayetteville to annex over 27 acres into the city so it may

build "professional buildings with adjacent parking lots and landscaping,"

according to documents.

Hospital spokesperson Ryan

Duffy said plans for the services that will be offered at the new facility

have not been finalized.

"It's still very early

in the planning stages," Duffy said. "We are evaluating the

services we need and the level of those services and the funding of those

services and where we are going to put them. ... When we have those plans

in place we cannot wait to share the good news."

The 27-acre site consists of

two parcels adjacent to the hospital campus. Both tracts are located on

Ga. Highway 54 near the hospital; one tract is 4.91 acres in size and

zoned office-institutional and the other is 22.7 acres and zoned R-70

for single-family residential.

The annexation would allow

the property to be served by the city's sewer system. The unincorporated

county is not served by a sewer system.

Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele

announced the development at Thursday night's City Council meeting. He

said the expansion would allow the hospital to offer additional treatment

and service options.

Steele called the news "exciting"

and noted that the hospital grew at an annual rate of approximately 18

percent in the past three years.

"This outstanding growth

rate can be attributed to a serious need that had not been met prior to

the advent of the hospital," Steele said. "Equally important

are the wonderful medical professionals attracted to our community, the

administration and support staffs and the large dedicated group of volunteers

who make up the auxiliary."

Steele said he told hospital

leadership that while he couldn't speak for the city council, he felt

the annexation effort would be supported.

Hospital officials are requesting

a medical office zoning for the property if it is annexed into the city,

according to documents.

The city has notified county

officials of the hospital's request, Steele said.

Fayette County Commission Chairman

Greg Dunn is thrilled the hospital is expanding, but doesn't quite see

why the property needs to be annexed.

"This is just another

way for the city to expand its boundaries," he said.

Dunn said the county would

not have objected to extending the city's sewer line to the adjacent property.

"I really can't figure

this. We want the hospital property to be on sewer, but don't see any

reason to change political boundaries," Dunn added.

The County Commission will

consider the annexation request at its May 7 meeting.

The hospital plans to have

a second entrance built on Hwy. 54 and a driveway connecting the new building

to the current hospital campus, according to city documents.

The city's Planning and Zoning

Commission will discuss the annexation request at a public hearing during

its May 27 meeting while the City Council will hold its public hearing

on the request June 19.