Vic Bradshaw
Frederick News
Post
Just a few months after voters
overwhelmingly rejected a bid to enlarge the town by annexing
county property, another annexation proposal is headed to
Emmitsburg's planning commission.
Bollinger
Properties LLC is asking to have almost 20.3 acres of land off
Irishtown Road brought within the town limits. If approved, it
would be incorporated with medium-density residential zoning,
allowing the development of up to 77 single-family homes or
103 townhouses, or a mixture of both types of dwellings.
The planning commission meets Monday
at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room at the Sleep
Inn to consider the request. It will recommend passage
or rejection to the town's board of commissioners, which is
expected to consider the request at its October meeting.
The annexation isn't the only request
Bollinger Properties is making Monday. It also wants to rezone
about 8.9 acres that are part of the same tract of land, a
parcel lying south of Little Run and within the town's
boundaries. If the requested change from low-density to
high-density residential zoning is approved, 48 senior-housing
units would be built on the land.
Jim Gugel, a planner with the
Frederick County Planning Department, said the proposed
projects fit well with Maryland's smart growth development
initiatives. The proposed uses are compatible with neighboring
properties and development plans and new town wells should be
brought online soon, he concluded, so he recommends
conditional approval of both requests.
Because of annexations approved in the
1980s, the tract Bollinger Properties hopes to have annexed is
nearly encircled by the town. David Haller, Emmitsburg's town
manager, said only a gap of roughly 50-feet between two
parcels prevents the 20-acre lot from being inside the town
limits already.
That property lies north of Little Run
and adjoins the Brookfield subdivision property. Mr. Gugel
said Brookfield's developers plan to seek town approval for
higher-density residential zoning for a 10-acre tract of land
adjoining the 20-acre Bollinger parcel.
In his report on the proposed
rezoning, Mr. Gugel said development around the property has
changed the character of the neighborhood enough to support
the rezoning request. If approved and built, the new homes
would be accessed through Emmit Court.
In 2002, the town's commissioners
voted to annex roughly 67 acres off North Seton Avenue.
However, a petition drive by residents resulted in the
annexation being taken to the voters in an April referendum,
and it was defeated by a 3-to-1 margin.