Hearing to focus on base encroachment

Blossom Point will be in spotlight

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009

County planning officials will hold a public forum Thursday evening in La Plata to introduce the results of a draft land use study that in its final form will detail how future development surrounding the Blossom Point Research Facility in Welcome will not create encroachment issues for the military or for property owners who live near the 1,600-acre base.

The study is a joint effort of the U.S. Army and county government, said Charles County commissioners' President F. Wayne Cooper (D). The commissioners adopted a resolution in 2007 that supported the county's effort to seek grant funding to work with the military to do the study.

With the continuing worry about future base closures across the country, the military has conducted many similar joint land use studies in conjunction with local jurisdictions, including the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary's County, Cooper said.

"We're being proactive with this," he said. "The study will address future encroachment issues and come up with recommendations on how to prevent them from happening. These studies are happening all over, not just here."

There is no expansion proposed for Blossom Point nor is its mission going to change, said Commissioner Edith J. Patterson (D), who is the commissioner representative for District 2 which includes Welcome. Blossom Point and the Naval Support Facility Indian Head work closely together so protecting the mission of the Welcome facility also offers protection to the Indian Head base, she said.

"This is another way that we can ensure the continuing existence of the Naval Support Facility in Indian Head," she said. "Encroachment is a critical factor when base closures are being considered."

The base is tucked at the end of Blossom Point Road and overlooks the Potomac River and Nanjemoy Creek. Originally called the Blossom Point Proving Ground, the base began operations in 1953. The installation is a facility under the U.S. Army Garrison Adelphi Laboratory Center in Adelphi and operates and maintains an ordnance and research facility on the property, according to county planning documents.

The base is classified as an explosives range facility for the Army, Department of Defense and other federal and private agencies and it is closed to the public, according to planning staff documents.

The study was partially funded by an $111,000 federal grant, according to Chuck Beall, the county's director of planning and growth management. The county kicked in $11,111 in in-kind services to prepare the study, he said.

The Dec. 10 public forum will offer folks who live near the base an opportunity to learn more about the installation's mission and the results of the draft joint land use study, said Steven Ball, the county's planning director. Information boards will be set up in the county commissioners' meeting room in the county government building in La Plata that will display information about the study, he said.

People will be able to ask county planners and the consultants who helped to prepare the study questions following a brief presentation, Ball said.

Once the study is completed it will be presented to the county commissioners in April, Beall said.

People should take some time to come to the forum, Ball said.

"Everyone is welcome," he said. "The more people who attend, the better. If you're curious about what the future land use areas are going to be near the base this is a good opportunity to find out."

The land use study is another effort to cement the military's mission in Charles County, Patterson said.

"This is a critical study," she said. "It's one of the instruments that we'll use to justify the survival of this facility."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com