Court OKs housing development

11-year litigation ends; 254-unit townhouse project continues in Eldersburg

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals’ approval of a 254-unit townhouse development in Eldersburg last week is not keeping down a grassroots group that opposes the project.

‘‘Definitely, there is still time and room for negotiation,” said Michele Carroll, president and co-founder of Carrolltowne United.

‘‘We will continue to work with [Rob Moxley of Security Development Corp.] with our focus being to reduce the number of units in the development,” Carroll said. ‘‘That is the most pressing issue at hand.”

Moxley and Stuart Young, vice president of Security Development in Ellicott City, the project’s developer, did not return calls for comment by The Gazette’s Wednesday press time.

Residents have opposed the plan since the mid-1990s due to the development’s size and other issues, such as expected traffic and noise that would result from the development.

‘‘For 11 years now there’s been various litigation,” said Kim Millender, Carroll County’s attorney.

Maryland’s highest court’s decision ended the decade-long battle. The 20-acre development will sit at Kali Drive and Ridge Road.

County officials rejected the development in 1995 stating public facilities could not support a project of its size. Following a developer appeal and a 1999 Circuit Court decision against the plan, the project needed additional zoning approval.

Carroll County’s Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals rejected the plan in 2004 and in July 2005, Maryland’s Circuit Court ruled against the county.

Residents who live near the proposed development organized Carrolltowne United in an attempt to reach a compromise with Security Development, said Michele Carroll.

‘‘Security Development has shown willingness to address some of the community’s needs by proposing to change access to the development and by making improvements to the Rt. 26⁄Ridge Road intersection,” she said.

Prior to the decision, Carrolltowne United set up a lunch meeting with Security Development, Carroll said. ‘‘Mr. Moxley, our spokesman, Dave Sherwood, and I are scheduled to meet this Friday.”

Carroll said that Security Development has been open to changing the access road in and out of Route 26. The change in access would make Kali Drive end in a cul-de-sac instead of a through road.

Presently, the county’s planning office is compiling a list of needed changes that the developer needs to make to construction drawings, which must be complete before ground breaking, Carroll said.

South Carroll residents were given the chance to speak out in a collection of about a dozen meetings with the developer since last summer, said Steven C. Horn, the county’s planning director.

‘‘We talked about the idea of entertaining a parallel idea,” he said. ‘‘Ultimately we did not get there.” Horn said the original plan showed no access to Rt. 26. Despite community opposition to the plan, he said, plans moved forward.

‘‘It’s a change in the access to the plan so we really didn’t see the plan rise to the revision that we wanted to see,” Horn said.

Horn noted at an Aug. 31 commissioner meeting that at one point the county ‘‘even talked directly about acquiring the property.”

Horn credited Carrolltowne United for their cooperation and fresh approach.

‘‘This project clearly has a long and storied past,” Horn said. ‘‘We went to considerable lengths to work with local businesses and even talked to developers. It’s safe to say with the 10 meetings and forums we went to great lengths with Carrolltowne United to keep with what we wanted.”

The 254 units would complete the final phase of the Carrolltowne development, a subdivision that has been in place since 1972.

‘‘The failure of the county back in 1999 to appeal the order is essentially the problem,” Millender said. Millender said the concerns in 1999 related to adequate public facilities and that she and Horn are working with staff on drawings to bring them up to speed on building codes.

Carroll told commissioners at an Aug. 31 meeting that she appreciated their support.

‘‘It become well known early on that it wasn’t the fault of the three commissioners,” she said. ‘‘The No. 1 issue for Carrolltowne United has always been the number of units.”

Millender said that the county couldn’t do anything that limits the number of units. ‘‘The only way to stop residential altogether would be to go industrial and I don’t think people want to do that.”