The Montgomery County Planning Board is taking up a controversial development that would take land away from the county’s precious agricultural reserve. After preservationists lost a court battle to nix the development, the planning board now is scheduled to give the green light to the housing development on Thursday.
The developer would build eight houses on Hilltop Farm off W. Old Baltimore Road in the northern part of the county. Although the development application is for the farm’s entire 232.7 acres, the homes would be clustered in 25 acres at the north end of the farm. The homes would be estates on lots ranging from 2 to 5.9 acres, according to the planning board agenda. The lots are “capable of being farmed,” according to the board’s staff analysis.
