Several large new residential developments could bring more homes to Carroll County in the next few years, even as concerns are rising about managing growth.
“Carroll County is unique in that we have eight municipalities and each has unique regulations and plans for development,” said Clayton Black, chief of the Bureau of Development Review.
Each town sets its own development policy, and many are having to slow down, Black said. But in the county?s northwest, several planned projects could add thousands of new residents to areas that officials hope are ripe for expansion.
Many municipalities are running into limits on their growth, Black said: Mount Airy is struggling to keep up its water supplies, and development has become a major issue in the town?s elections; Taneytown is negotiating with the Maryland Department of the Environment over additional water sources; and Manchester is approaching a self-imposed population cap of 5,000 that is based on the town?s sewer capacity.
Most growth is taking place in and around the county?s municipalities, which parallels long-range plans for development and managing sprawl, Black said.
Between June 2004 and June 2005, county planners recorded 437 new residential lots being prepared for development, Black said. That number was actually down from 756 lots during the same period in 2004, thanks to a deferral on residential growth enacted by the county commissioners. Of those plots, 275 werewithin city limits, said Brian O?Malley, concurrency manager for the Department of Planning.
In Taneytown, a retirement condominium community will create 500 additional housing units ? Carroll?s largest residential development “by far,” Black said.
Taneytown City Manager James Schumacher said the Carroll Vista community will be unaffected by negotiations with MDE over new sources of water, which could include drilling new wells, building a reservoir or tapping Big Pipe Creek.
Two or three other developments could come before city and county planners in the next year, Schumacher said.
“In our city, we?ll probably phase in growth slowly because of the water situation,” he said.
In Union Bridge, a pair of residential developments could greatly expand the town if water and sewer systems will support them, Black said.
The two developments, to be called Jackson Ridge and The Villages of Union Bridge, could double the town?s current population of 1,000, said Town Councilmember and Planning Committee Member Karen Kotarski.
Union Bridge has not had new residential development in decades, Kotarksi said, and has plenty of room for growth.
“We feel as though the infrastructure is here, and when you look at the possibilities for expansion, this is the place to do it,” she said.
