Plan for ‘downtown' amenities splits residents

Officials hear pros, cons

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009

The Waldorf Urban Design Study package contains a vision document for how to develop a portion of the Waldorf subarea, proposals to create two new zones and revise several others and specific guidelines on how to create a "downtown" section in Waldorf at the intersections of Acton Lane and Old Washington Road and Leonardtown Road and Old Washington Road. The package was presented to the Charles County Planning Commission and a handful of residents by Clive Graham of Environmental Resources Management of Annapolis during the hearing Aug. 17.

Graham said the urban design package has been in the works for about 18 months and its implementation is long overdue.

"The purpose is to create an urban center in Waldorf," he said. "It's going to be a fundamental change for a place that has been on a certain path for 40 to 50 years. This is a major new direction for Waldorf. We're talking about redeveloping an already developed area and put it in a new direction."

A major component of implementing the package is for the county to create two activity centers at the Acton Lane and Old Washington Road and Leonardtown Road and Old Washington Road intersections, Graham said. To do that he recommends the county create the Waldorf Central zone that would allow two- to five-story buildings that have traditional architectural themes with an emphasis on civic and institutional uses.

The Acton Urban Center zone would allow three- to 10-story buildings with a modern architectural theme that emphasizes heavier uses and densities that would support mass transit options, including future light rail, Graham said.

"These would be mapped districts where the county would like to encourage development," he said. "The county is establishing a vision and this will encourage development consistent with that vision."

In addition, the urban design study recommends the county revise the transit oriented development, central business, community commercial, core retail residential and core employment residential zones to make them more compatible with the vision of the document, Graham said.

Only a handful of folks testified during the hearing, including several local environmentalists who praised the study while at the same time criticizing the county for perhaps jumping into the implementation of it before the mass transit link is fully sorted out.

"Right now we have a ton of congestion on Route 5 and [U.S.] 301," said Johnnie DeGiorgi, a Nanjemoy resident who is running for the District 2 Charles County commissioners' seat now held by Commissioner Edith J. Patterson (D). "On an average Saturday trying to get through that area is just a mess."

DeGiorgi said the county should first decide whether to do a western or eastern bypass of Waldorf or upgrade the busy corridor.

"It seems to me we would plan first with the state about what we're going to do with [U.S.] 301," he said.

"If we upgrade the highway it may alter this plan. That needs to be addressed to find out what direction we're going to go."

Hughesville resident Donna Cave — who led the fight to keep a baseball stadium from being built in the village and unsuccessfully stop the rezoning of a 150-acre parcel on Route 231 from agricultural conservation to community commercial — said she is concerned that the tweaking of the community commercial zone might cause even more of the wrong kind of development in the village.

"Basically, I'm opposed to sprawl but this study is a marked improvement," she said. "But this zone and these text amendments is what were just granted by the county for Chaney [Enterprises]. Now he can add townhouses, apartments and other multi-family homes to the property," she added, referring to changes the commissioners voted to recommend be granted to the developers of a piece of land in Hughesville owned by Chaney Enterprises.

Cave said the $60 million the county has set aside to finish the final leg of the cross-county connector in Bryans Road would be better spent on implementing the vision of the urban design package in Waldorf.

Nancy Slepicka, a La Plata attorney who is representing Suburban Propane in Waldorf, said the company has two locations within the study area and officials are worried about the rezoning aspect of the study package.

"This business is flourishing and successful," she said, adding the company has been in the area since the 1940s. "Suburban Propane is very supportive of the county's effort to upgrade the business district in Waldorf and prepare for mass transit but this process does include the rezoning of some properties.

"We're asking the county commissioners to take a careful look at the impact of the steps that they're going to take. Businesses should not be penalized because they're located within the Waldorf urban design area."

Bonnie Bick of the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club said she supports the general premise of the urban design study but warned that care must be given to its implementation.

"You've got to prioritize growth," she said. "It shouldn't be done ad hoc. It needs to be done comprehensively."

Ray Detig, planning commission chairman, praised the Waldorf Citizens Advisory Committee for a job well done on the urban design package.

"The committee did a great job," he said. "We had an idea of what we wanted to have done and I'm encouraged to see it coming together."

The planning commission will hold a work session on the urban design package once the record closes Oct. 1 and then forward a recommendation to the county commissioners. The commissioners will hold a public hearing and work session on the package before rendering a decision on the matter.

Kathleen Kazimer, owner of Shady Oaks at Serenity bed and breakfast in Bryantown, said the urban study is the catalyst that is needed to put Waldorf back on the map.

"I've been looking at this plan and I'm for it," she said. "This will give Waldorf back its identity. People don't understand where it is. This is a chance for the town to come back. I would like to see Waldorf as a destination."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com