Rezoning sought for old Superfund, munitions sites

Residential use for two properties called ‘inappropriate'

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

Industrial uses have been requested for two large properties in the Hollywood area. One is a former Superfund cleanup site, and the other was the site of a munitions factory.

The owner of the old munitions site, Facchina Development of La Plata, is asking for its 619-acre site on the west side of Route 235 south of Friendship School Road to be upgraded to light industrial use from the rural preservation district.

The owner of the former Superfund site at 25202 Three Notch Road, CapFinancial Properties of Prinsburg, Minn., is asking the county commissioners to keep its industrial zoning.

As part of the commissioners' comprehensive growth plan update, the former Superfund site is suggested to be downzoned to the rural preservation district.

Facchina's property used to be called the Gollahon property after its former owner. In a letter to the commissioners, owner Paul Facchina wrote, "This property has had a colorful history, from being the home of a munitions manufacturer in the 1950s to a proposal for residential development in the late 1990s to the early 2000s."

Prior cleanups of the land removed 300 pounds of explosives, and there were two small explosions during removal on one day in 1993. After many years of discussion, the St. Mary's County Zoning Board of Appeals in keeping with court decisions approved the site for 153 homes in 2006.

Working with the Maryland Department of the Environment to confirm the land's suitability, Facchina said "residential development is not a desirable use for this parcel and is not of interest to us given the past history of the property."

Asking for light industrial use, he said, "One could argue that due to the past manufacturing history that there is precedence for the industrial use on this property."

Over $61 million was spent cleaning up 25 acres of a 94-acre property farther south in Hollywood that used to be the home of the Southern Maryland Wood Treatment Corporation. In 2005, the site was deemed safe for residential use by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2007, CapFinancial properties bought the property for $1.5 million.

Representing attorney Bill McKissick wrote to the commissioners stating there are relatively few industrial zones in the county and both the EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment have certified the property is acceptable for industrial use. "Finally ,keep in mind that the taxpayers have already paid over $60 million to remediate the property and to place it back into productive economic use. To downzone the property to RPD would ensure that the taxpayers would not ever be able to recoup the monies spent to clean up this property," McKissick said.

Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D) represents the area that includes both properties. He said Tuesday he was inclined to leave the old Superfund site's industrial use as is and to have the former munitions site upgrade to industrial.

Based on the histories of the two properties he said residential use would be "somewhat inappropriate." Of the old munitions lands he said, "It's not good for that and it's not good for a school site."

At the former Superfund site, he said, "Nobody's going to go in there and build townhouses." Farming wouldn't be a good use there, either. It would actually be advantageous, he said, to add impervious surface to those sites to cover any potential hazards.

jbabcock@somdnews.com