Residents and developers are debating who is offering the smarter solution when it comes to developing land north of Aberdeen.
Last month, the City Council unanimously approved the annexation of 523 acres around the Wetlands golf course. Both the developers and the residents opposed to the project claim that principles of Maryland?s Smart Growth initiative ? designed to limit suburban sprawl ? are on their group?s side.
High-density residential zoning will allow the city to keep the development concentrated with nearby commercial space and access to jobs that will be added to nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground, said Sam Smedley, one of the owners of the golf course.
“We?re so close to the base that people will be able to bike to work; to walk to work,” Smedley said. “This is smart growth.”
However, opponents of the annexation maintain that building outside the city does not follow smart growth guidelines for using existing land and infrastructure.
The development would add water and sewer service to a network that already is running short, said Rosemary Queen, a resident of Locksley Manor Drive.
A proposed desalinization plant at Aberdeen Proving Ground would add as much as 6 million gallons of water per day, but is not slated to come online for another four to five years.
“At this point, we need to get our drinking water squared away before we go ahead with more development,” Queen said.
Both sides may be right, but only time and planning can tell for sure, said John Frece, associate director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland.
Only those areas already within city borders or county-designated growth areas are eligible for state growth funding, Frece said.
Maryland Department of Planning spokeswoman Rachel Audi said the county would have to pass a separate ordinance to expand the eligible zone.
“Once it becomes part of the preferred funding area, they can say with a straight face that it?s part of Smart Growth,” Frece said.
The development would only be keeping with the letter of the law, not the spirit, if enough opportunities for redevelopment exist within the city, Frece said.
The design of the development as it goes forward will determine if it is dense enough, integrated enough and transit-friendly enough to meet smart growth ideals, he said.
Both developers and residents have launched Web sites for their causes at www.aberdeenannexation.com and www.saynoannex.com, respectively.
SMART GROWTH GOALS
» Support development where infrastructure currently exists
» Save our natural resources
» Save taxpayers from building infrastructure for development that has spread far from population centers
» Provide Marylanders with a high quality of life, whether they live in a rural community, suburb, small town, or city
From The Maryland Department of Planning
