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SCBA Meeting
Addresses Pathways, Main Street Eldersburg Wednesday’s South Carroll Business Association (SCBA) luncheon saw as its guest Steve Horn, director of the Carroll County Department of Planning. The main concern of business owners? Pathways, of course. It also saw a new venue, this time taking place at the Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Hall instead of Salerno’s – though the food was still catered by the restaurant. Horn began by giving an overview of what the Carroll County Comprehensive Plan meant for the Eldersburg-area, then took questions from the audience. Those in attendance remained civil throughout the roughly 45-minute speaking session – a stark contrast to previous Pathways meetings. Hometown Eldersburg Steve Horn said that Eldersburg held a special place in his heart being the town that he grew up in. He explained that his parents moved to the area in 1968 and still live in town. Horn mentioned that he was excited to see Eldersburg has made the Money Magazine’s list of the top 100 small towns in America (http://www.eldersburg.net/news/eldersburg_best_live2009.asp?). “ I think that’s not only a testament to the people who live here but also the businesses that are here,” Horn said. “So, I think you all deserve a lot of credit for that.” Pathways through Horn’s eyes Horn said that Pathways was unique in that is was the first time the government had taken a long-term view on the future of the county, at least in the time since he started in 1988. “I think we’ve taken a lot of steps forward with this draft plan,” Horn said. To balance this, he admitted that the Planning and Zoning Commission had received much input on the draft Pathways Plan, not all of it positive. Verification of this fact was given with some laughter from the audience. Despite the negative comments received Horn kept a positive outlook. “I think planners have to be positive just by nature, and I certainly fit that description,” he said. Horn explained that the Pathways plan, a 20 to 30 year look into the future of county development, could be described as aggressive. He added that the news coverage of the plan did not give the complete story and he encouraged residents to go to the Pathways Web site (http://www.carrollpathways.org/) in order to become more informed. The Web site contains the full text of the Comprehensive Plan as well as zoning maps highlighting proposed land use changes. The SCBA stance SCBA President Jon Allen at the luncheon read a letter directed to the Planning and Zoning Commission that asked for recommendations to be considered as part of the Pathways draft process with regards to Freedom. The first request was that the commission hold a special session with South Carroll business owners in order to explain one-on-one the changes Pathways put forth in the Eldersburg / Freedom area. The SCBA also asked that zoning in Eldersburg be updated to promote redevelopment as opposed to new development that would add to “bloated commercial inventories.” In addition to the letter, Allen after Horn’s presentation asked about the proposed Main Street Eldersburg development, a project of Black Oak Associates, and how it would be affected, if at all, by Pathways zoning changes. Horn admitted that changes in the county zoning code could affect the development area, across from the old London Fog building and behind Wal-Mart, but that Black Oak was looking to get an exemption from these changes considering how long the project has been in the works. Allen also brought up concern that changing zoning ordinances could adversely affect business owners in Eldersburg if, say, the zoning and allowable use of their property suddenly changed. While Horn said that the zoning districts themselves were not changing, he did admit that changes to the zoning codes could alter some land use policies. Horn stressed that zoning officials were aware of this situation and would be looking at it during the draft review process, which is still ongoing. Resident concerns Audience members brought up focused concerns on specifics areas of Eldersburg. One of these was the redevelopment of the Klees Mill – MD 26 intersection, which Horn said was slated for spring of next year. Another concern was the redevelopment of Old Liberty Rd., running parallel to the dilapidated golf center off of MD 26. Horn mentioned that if the redevelopment of the golf driving range to mixed commercial construction by St. John Properties came to fruition then the developer would have to make “substantial” roadway improvements. Horn explained that the plan for redevelopment would be going to the Planning Commission within the next two months for review. As for what the plan actually entails? Horn said that there were plans for a new gas station with flex space further back in the lot. Another issue brought up was the lack of sidewalks around Eldersburg, especially on heavily trafficked roads such a MD 26. Horn understood the concern. “People walk on those roads every day. People push baby carriages across them at bad times of the day across bad intersections with no median break,” Horn said. He explained that the state plan for MD 26 had a strong pedestrian element. Unfortunately, the plan is not funded. He mentioned that some are opposed to the sidewalks because of cost. “They’re expensive, but I think they’re cheap in terms of what they provide for you,” he said. “If you can get more people to walk around as opposed to drive I think it’s a better situation for everybody.” And what would a public airing of concern on local development be without questions on the Carrolltown Mall renovations? Horn said the developer of the mall, Dixon Harvey of Black Oak Associates, was anxious to get started. “He’s been in my office, he’s been in the economic development office. He’s talked to a lot of people – he’s got some neat ideas about how to redevelop that site,” Horn explained. He added that the issues with current mall tenants were close to a resolution and Black Oak had started working on redevelopment plans for the site, though the County has yet to receive plans from them. “I can’t tell you right now when those plans will be submitted, but my understanding is that they’re working on them as we speak,” he said. The Freedom Plan The Freedom Community Comprehensive Plan, last updated in 2001 and found online at http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/compplan/freedom/ is a much more site-specific approach to redevelopment in and around Eldersburg. “The Freedom Area Plan is going to look at individual parcels within the Freedom area community,” Horn explained. “The Pathways Plan is not done in this way.” While the Pathways Plan does not apply to incorporated towns such as Sykesville and Mt. Airy, Horn said that it does affect unincorporated areas such as Eldersburg. To put residents’ minds at ease Horn stressed that Pathways, as it currently stands, would not be making significant changes to the Eldersburg area. He added that before changes like those could be made the county planners would need to take a more exact look at the Eldersburg / Freedom area and consider comments from residents of the community. “The Freedom Area Plan is going to be very much an at-the-ground-level analysis with citizen input… as opposed to what was more of a 10,000-feet-level Carroll County Pathways Plan,” Horn mentioned. But when will the update to the Freedom Plan be started? Horn said that once the Pathways process is complete county planners would shift their attention to the Freedom area. |
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