Royal Farms Proposed On Box Hill South Parkway

ABINGDON, MD — Representatives looking to place a Royal Farms on Box Hill South Parkway met with the community Tuesday night in Abingdon. The meeting was informational, so that people could get an idea of the project and ask questions of the firm that engineered it. Most offered their feedback, namely that they objected to the development.

The proposal calls for a 5,166-square-foot Royal Farms store with eight gas pumps under a canopy — for a total of 16 "fueling positions" — to be built at 10 Box Hill South Parkway, engineers said.

The store would be next to the Canton Car Wash and AAA car care center, currently under construction along Route 924/Emmorton Road.

More than 30 people attended the meeting, held at the Abingdon Library, as did an engineer from Royal Farms and an engineer from Frederick Ward Associates, the Bel Air-based firm contracted to work on the project.

All of the residents who testified except one opposed the proposal, citing traffic. Other concerns were property values, light and air pollution, crime, the nearby senior population and market saturation. Some residents also said when the property was rezoned for commercial use, they were told by the county that the business would be a restaurant with a drive-through like Starbucks.

"I just don't understand how they [Harford County planning and zoning officials] are supporting this bait-and-switch from retail or restaurant to a fifth gas station in a 1-mile stretch of road," Joshua Crone of Hidden Ridge Terrace said. Residents noted the Wawa and Exxon on either side of Route 924, plus the BJ's and Giant nearby.

"With all due respect, this project does not need to occur at all," President of Box Hill South Homeowner's Association Philip McCall said at Tuesday night's meeting. "And I am fully prepared to stand with the rest of the citizens to make this another no Bel Air Walmart in my backyard type issue.” Applause followed.

The proposed Royal Farms would be located across Box Hill South Parkway from The Boulevard at Box Hill. It would be a 24-hour operation.

Entry would come from Merchant Boulevard and Route 924, which would have a right-in, right-out access point, according to Jerry Powell, the engineer from Frederick Ward. Below, he tried to show a resident how the configuration would work.

Citizens expressed concerns about additional traffic, which has been described as a "nightmare" already in the area. Residents say they must make several detours to get in and out of their own neighborhoods.

"The worst part of it is Merchant Boulevard," Paula Benjamin of Meadow Valley Drive said. "You're signing someone's death warrant."

One woman who works in the Box Hill Corporate Center said that making a left onto Box Hill South Parkway to get to the Giant on Route 924 is impossible for her after work. She has to turn right, go toward her home on Hidden Ridge Terrace, and come out to make a right onto Box Hill South Parkway to get to Route 924.

"Traffic is just horrible, and I’ve just seen it grow so much," Teresa Bowen said. "This kind of thing is going to make traffic even worse....I've almost been hit head-on several times."

Traffic was a safety issue, others agreed.

"We know that geographically, there's a certain amount of square footage in this area," said Patricia Waddell, who has lived on Arrow Wood Court for 27 years. "Except putting in helicopters and some other means of coming into the area...if you only have this much space and you have more traffic, you're going to have a problem."

Added Waddell: "We don't want to spend all of our time [in traffic] and never get to where we're going alive — because it's a matter of life and death." The crowd clapped in response to her comments.

Potentially Toxic Impact On Community

"Are we trying to kill everyone around there?" asked Lindsay Matt, who lives on Hidden Ridge Terrace. The AAA car care center and car wash would draw idling cars to the area, she said, and the gas station would bring additional exhaust closer to residences.

"So many studies have proven that exposure to car exhaust causes cancer, causes asthma..." Matt said.

She expressed concern about the health impacts on the community, from children to seniors.

"We have a large special population living right there, within less than 300 feet," Matt said, referring to the senior living community, Park View at Box Hill. "There are known impacts...It's just such a slap in the face to our community to do this."

Added Matt: "I understand it's going to be developed. Make it something the community can enjoy that brings value to the community."

Other residents asked whether there was a Royal Farms next to a retirement home where they could ask community members how it impacted them for reference, regarding light, noise and pedestrian safety.

Although the engineers tried to point to the Royal Farms in Forest Hill near Spenceola Farms for comparison, residents said that store was not right next to the senior housing as the one proposed in Abingdon would be.

Several residents said they were concerned about their property values, particularly after one Abingdon man brought information to light regarding fuel storage.

Proximity to more than 1,000 gallons of fuel underground makes a property ineligible for assistance from the Federal Housing Administration, said Jesse Cunningham of Deer Creek Road.

The Federal Housing Administration says that if the tanks are within 300 feet of a property, that property will be ineligible for insurance.

Two Park View Residents Support Royal Farms

The lone supporter of the Royal Farms project during the meeting was Dorothy Chicarelli, who stated she was 80 years old, lives at Park View and was looking forward to being able to walk to Royal Farms.

"It's more than a gas station," Chicarelli told Patch. "It's a store that has everything."

Regarding opposition to the Royal Farms, she said: "I think it's more than just about traffic." She would not point to anything more specific and was generally dismissive of others' concerns regarding the proposal.

During the community input meeting, when one Emmorton Road resident said she was worried about light, Chicarelli spoke over her: "Has anybody ever heard of shades? How about you pull down the shades?" The Emmorton Road resident also said she witnessed crashes at the intersection of Route 924 and Box Hill about once a week and was concerned Royal Farms would make this stretch of road even more dangerous.

One of Chicarelli's neighbors, Darlene Bassert, did not speak up in the meeting but told Bel Air Patch afterward that she was in support of the idea. "No matter what is there, there will still be traffic," said Bassert. "I'd like to see it because we have a hard time getting to the grocery store."

To get her groceries, Bassert said she has walked over to Wegmans at 6 a.m., when it opens, to avoid traffic.

Traffic Study To Be Released Later This June

When they submit their plans for the project to Harford County, the engineers will include a traffic study that takes into account proposed and current development in the area, according to Powell.

"It shows us where the problem areas are, and we study those problem areas...then [based on traffic Royal Farms would produce] we try to come up with a solution to mitigate traffic," Powell said. "I have no proposal for what those are, because we haven't seen what the problem areas are....It still has to be studied."

Engineers said that the gas station was projected to bring an additional 250 vehicles in a 24-hour period to the area; the majority of patrons were expected to be those already passing by.

For next steps, the developer will submit the site plan with traffic study to Harford County by the end of June, which will officially be presented to the Development Advisory Committee at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 18. That meeting is open to the public and will be at 220 South Main Street in Bel Air in the Harford County government building's first floor conference room.

"We have received no approvals on this project," Powell said. "We are at the starting gate."

Read the conversation about the project on the Bel Air Patch Facebook page.

The proposed Royal Farms would be located at 10 Box Hill South Parkway:

All images by Elizabeth Janney, except for one of MD 924 at Box Hill South Parkway in the light, which is courtesy of Google street view.