Thurmont
expecting annexation request
By James Rada, Jr.
Thurmont Dispatch News Editor
THURMONT, Md. – In the next few months, Thurmont Town
Commissioners President Martin Burns expects to see a request
for the town to annex a piece of property that could eventually
have as many as 300 homes and possibly a Wal-Mart.
Burns
told the planning and zoning commission on Feb. 23 that he
had been told the potential development would include a large
box store and that Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Target
had shown interest.
“I
guarantee we would know what it would be before we even consider
an annexation request,” Burns said.
A recent
survey of town residents by the Thurmont Planning and Zoning
Commission found nearly three out of four people want the
town to encourage economic growth within the town with many
of them citing the need for large department stores and, in
particular, Wal-Mart as a business the town needs.
Burns
stressed that at this point nothing is definite. Many ideas
are being floated for how the property behind the Shamrock
Restaurant can be developed. The 240 acres of interest is
owned by a seven-person consortium, with Eugene Myers as the
major owner.
“No
way will anything be done before the I&I (sewer) problem
is fixed, approved by MDE (Maryland Department of the Environment)
and tested,” Burns said.
However,
his impression is that the annexation will come before the
town commissioners in a few months, which is “sooner
than I thought.” By making a request soon, the annexation
could be included in the town’s master plan, which is
being reviewed.
Preliminary
discussions anticipate 300 to 400 houses to be built on the
property. The number of houses that could be built each year
would need to be negotiated between the town and developer.
The
development would be served by its own sewer system, which
the developer would build.
“Of
course, that means the town would need to maintain it, but
the advantage is that it doesn’t impact the town’s
current system,” Burns said.
One
idea suggested is that the developer build a town hall shell
that the town would finish off.
While
Burns and other town commissioners have met with the developer’s
representative Brian Duncan of Tyler-Donegan Real Estate Services.
Burns
said, “There’s been no plans, no discussion, no
nothing.” The interested developer has not even purchased
the land.
Duncan
and Myers did not return calls from The Dispatch.
