No Schools Means No Residential Development on Route 1 Corridor

Pending decisions by the Howard County Board of Education could mean further delays in residential development along the Route 1 corridor, the board was told Wednesday.

According to a study presented by Joel Gallihue, manager of Howard County’s school planning, the Route 1 corridor may be closed for residential development for the next few years if a new middle and elementary school are not built.

Gallihue presented the school system’s annual enrollment projection report at the Board of Education’s quarterly meeting with the county council. The feasibility study indicated that both and will be over-enrolled by more than 15 percent during the 2013–2014 school year.

Once a school reaches 115 percent capacity, that school district becomes closed for residential development.

By law, infrastructure—like schools, roads and sewers—must be available if new residential development is to be approved in Howard County, in accordance with the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO).

Currently, 17 residential building projects are on hold in Elkridge because schools were over capacity last year. Many developments have been in a holding pattern since 2006 because has been over capacity and because only a certain number of housing units may be built in one area at a time, according to APFO's scaled growth plans.

Elkridge Landing Middle School is projected to be at 119.5 percent capacity, and Mayfield Woods Middle is anticipated to be at 115.8 percent capacity by 2013, according to the latest projections.

A new middle school is slated for 2015 in the capital budget, said County Councilwoman Courtney Watson, who represents Elkridge. But so far, no potential sites have been made public.

“Right now, the economy is in such a precarious position that keeping an area locked down to any kind of development moving forward has an impact, an unfortunate impact, on the local economy—jobs, ability for people to start generating income, revenue and tax revenues for the county,” Watson said in an interview with Patch.

Watson noted that because many projects along the Route 1 corridor mix housing with spaces for business operations, the holdup in residential development will bring commercial and retail developments to a standstill too.

In August 2010, officials began evaluating one elementary school site—a property on Coca Cola Drive in Hanover—that the school board voted to acquire in October 2010 for future use. It has not designated the property as the location where the elementary school will be built.

The site is adjacent to one proposed location for an intermodal train-truck transfer facility that has created widespread controversy in the area due to its potential impact on noise and safety.

“There is nothing preventing us from designating that as a site other than … concern [about] locking it in too soon and getting stuck with possibility of … an intermodal facility,” said school board member Frank Aquino at the June 15 meeting.

The school board said it was having a closed meeting on the school issue on Thursday.

Elementary schools projected to be over capacity for 2012–2013 in the northeast include Elkridge Elementary (115.4 percent capacity), Veterans Elementary (124.4 percent) and Waterloo Elementary (118.5 percent).

“If right now we have certain schools that are closed … I’m concerned,” said Council Chairman Calvin Ball, who represents part of Elkridge.

Watson, who also represents Elkridge, said residents query her and Ball about the school site regularly.

“If you’re talking about not accepting a site for another year, I just wanted to make sure that you’re aware of ... how much of an impact it could have on economic conditions in that area in terms of stifling growth,” she told the board.

Planning officials predicted a resolution of the school site situation.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we can open the new elementary school in August 2013,” said Ken Roey, director of facilities for the Howard County Public School System. “On what basis [I have] the cautious optimism, I’ll discuss tomorrow” at the closed meeting with the school board, he said.

Information about the site could be publicly disclosed at the board’s June 21 meeting, said Watson. Currently, the school site is not on the agenda for that meeting.

Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for Howard County public schools, said there was no deadline for the school board to identify a site for the elementary school. “Ideally, it would be the end of June,” she said in an e-mail.