(4/4) At its April 4 meeting, the Emmitsburg Town Council approved a zoning map amendment to change the zoning designation of two Brookfield parcels.

The rezoning from Neighborhood Commercial (B-1) to Low Density Residential (R-1) at the entrance of Brookfield on Timbermill Run allows for seven additional Brookfield single-family houses.

The developer intends to construct ten single-family detached lots, three of the lots are already under existing zoning. "It would be an addition of seven houses, it’s a very modest request," said attorney Bruce Dean who represented Richard Demmitt of RJD Development, Brookfield’s developer.

Demmitt has owned the property for over twenty years and noted the commercial component seemed exciting at first, but he had no luck in marketing the property.

"Through all these years we haven’t been able to get anybody that had any interest," he said. The 2.5 acres that have remained vacant over 20 years, he said, and was "undevelopable" with its current neighborhood commercial zoning.

Due to changes in the town, the properties were no longer suitable for commercial development and the town’s local population growth did not support the need for additional retail space Dean said.

While the east side of town is currently seeing a significant amount of commercial development, the west side of town consists of almost exclusively residential development, Dean said.

There has been no commercial development in the vicinity of the property since the 2015 comprehensive plan was approved and the properties also have zero visibility from Main Street, according to Dean. "For a business to be viable it needs be findable," he said.

At the pubic comment period, former town commissioner Dianne Walbrecker, who led previous comprehensive plans as chair of planning commission, said the B1 designation was intended to be neighborhood commercial district and the comprehensive plan’s layout had anticipated to provide residents the ability to walk to retail locations. Although the intentions were good, layouts of the town have changed since the comprehensive plan’s implementation that could not necessarily have been foreseen, she said.

Commissioner Frank Davis noted residents don’t go out to stroll town like they used to, and are now looking for one stop shopping.

The proposed rezoning to R1 will further the town’s residential growth priorities as well as generate tax revenue and ideally address the town’s decrease in population, Dean said.

However, Commissioner TJ Burns said that adequate infrastructure was not just water and sewer systems, but schooling as well. The housing development is guaranteed to bring in students, he said, and the Emmitsburg Elementary School is already currently at 92 percent capacity.

The Council urged a partnership between the developers and the town to put pressure on Frederick County to recognize that the Emmitsburg school system has not been updated in 20 years.