Myers
Farm could be annexed without houses
By James Rada Jr.
News Editor
THURMONT,
Md. – The developer of the Myers Farm property north of
Thurmont is considering changing his annexation request so that
it would become an annexation of commercial and office property
into the town.
“They’re
considering taking the homes out of the equation,” Mayor
Martin Burns said during a town meeting on Mar. 6.
He met
with developer Tom Hudson and the town attorney prior to the
meeting to discuss options for the Myers Farm annexation request.
Hudson wants Thurmont to annex about 189 acres into the town
to be developed as commercial space, office space, houses,
townhouses and parks.
“It
was a wide-ranging discussion I had with the mayor,”
Hudson said.
According
to the mayor, when Hudson asked what could be done to improve
the chance of annexation approval, Burns told him to remove
the houses from the request. Hudson’s concept plan of
the development, called Thurmont Commons, includes 228 single-family
houses and 112 townhouses to surround a commercial center.
“The
homes are the most draining on the infrastructure and the
businesses aren’t,” Burns said.
Three
of the major tenants in the business area would be a Home
Depot-type store, a Wal-Mart-type store and a 15,000-square-foot
emergency medical facility. Hudson said at this “very
preliminary” stage, the emergency medical facility would
be two to three stories with a clinic on the first floor and
offices above.
“Right
now, there are two options on the table,” Hudson said.
“The original request and the request without the residential.”
However,
Hudson said the residential portion of the annexation request
could be brought back at a later time as a separate, new request.
“I
was really shocked,” Burns said. “I didn’t
think they would consider it.”
Burns
also pointed out that this would still require the construction
of a wastewater treatment plant so that the development would
not affect the town’s problematic sewer system.
Even
this truncated annexation request faces strong opposition.
Judging by the discussions on a local forum, some of the strongest
opponents to the annexation still remain opposed.
Hudson
is on the town’s planning and zoning commission meeting
agenda for Mar. 22.
