Tech park is a step closer

Planning commission vote sends plan to commissioners

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009

County planning officials put their stamp of approval on a development plan for the Indian Head Science and Technology Park on Monday that will be built on nearly 300 acres in Bryans Road over the next 14 years.

The Charles County Planning Commission voted Monday evening following a public hearing to recommend that the Charles County commissioners approve the development plan that sets the density ratios for the park. The center will encompass 1.2 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, and research and development flex space, said county planners during the hearing.

The center that will be built by the COPT-FACC development company will employ 3,000 people and is expected to generate a lot of high-wage jobs, according to the county planning staff report. Businesses in the tech park will offer energetics support to activities at the Naval Support Facility Indian Head, the developers said during an August public hearing on a request for the county to place the planned employment park overlay zone on the property that is zoned business park and medium residential.

Several people testified against the construction of the tech center during Monday's hearing, stating the 268-acre parcel is too environmentally fragile for any development because of its proximity to the Mattawoman Creek.

Nanjemoy resident Kevin Grimes said the tract is heavily forested, which protects the creek from stormwater runoff.

"Once the forest is fragmented it can't do its job properly," he said. "I'm not against the technology park. I'm against the location."

Linda Redding of Nanjemoy said the county has property that is already zoned for a technology center in Waldorf.

"It's ready to go; it's already got water and sewer," she said. "All the infrastructure is in place at no cost to the citizens. It's not in the middle of nowhere."

Redding said the idea that the developers are going to build a "green" project is laughable.

"The first rule of thumb for green building is location," she said. "It's ridiculous to cut down the forest and call this a green project. There are more intelligent places to build this."

But, supporters of the project said the property is the perfect spot to build a tech park with the main purpose of providing support to the U.S. Navy base in Indian Head. The most environmentally sensitive areas of the land will be placed in the resource protection zone, the developers said.

"The technology park is a great idea," said Vince Hungerford, president of the Western Charles County Business Association. "It's going to do a lot for our community. It will certainly do wonders for the western part of the county."

Gil Bauserman, who owns Maryland Airport in Indian Head with Jack Crawford, said the tech park is not a threat to the Mattawoman Creek watershed.

"My wife and I own 15 acres of property that adjoins the tech park property," he said.

"It's where we built our retirement home and we plan on living there for the rest of our lives. If anybody should be protesting the tech park it should be us."

Concerns about the safety of the Martin-Baker proposal to open shop in the tech park to work with energetics materials are unfounded, said Robert Kavetsky, CEO of the Energetics Technology Center in La Plata. Kavetsky said his company is planning to relocate to the tech center in the future.

"We're looking forward to having office and lab space in the tech park," he said.

"There are many organizations that are involved with energetics materials. It's very, very safe. It's a well controlled operation that is performed by highly qualified experts."

But Indian Head resident Edward Joell said the field sometimes causes dangerous situations.

Joell, who said he has worked with applied ordnance technology at NSF Indian Head in the past, recalled an incident in 1998 on the base where a mishap caused propellants to explode. The explosion cracked basement floors in houses along Mattingly Avenue in Indian Head and was felt from miles away, he said.

"Explosives are dangerous and you're going to put Martin-Baker right next to two schools [Matthew Henson Middle School and J.C. Parks Elementary School]. Its doesn't seem logical to me," he said.

Despite protests from local environmentalists, the planning commission closed the public hearing, held a brief work session and voted to recommend that the county commissioners approve the general development plan.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the plan and a work session before rendering a decision on the matter.

The county's lack of interest in protecting Mattawoman Creek will impact future generations, said Bonnie Bick of the Southern Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club.

"It's a mistake," she said. "The creek is the No. 1 issue in saving the Chesapeake Bay. You cannot save the bay without saving Mattawoman Creek."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com