Heritage Society Weighs in On N. Patuxent Road Project

The committee charged with reviewing development projects in the Odenton Town Center said it was not aware that a new housing complex planned near North Patuxent and Odenton Roads was in a historic district when it reviewed the proposal twice earlier this year.

The on Tuesday formally objected to plans for as many as 88 condominiums on the site, arguing that the committee ignored provisions in the area’s master plan relating to historic preservation.

In a letter to the Odenton Town Center Plan Oversight Committee, wrote that the project would be “inappropriate and contrary” to both the existing master plan for Odenton as well as the character of the neighborhood.

Heritage society member Sally Shoemaker presented a 25-page packet highlighting provisions in the town center master plan relating to historical preservation.

The project proposed by The Hogan Cos. would sit in an area of the Odenton Town Center known as the “village.” The town center committee twice, most recently in June, but did not approve the plans outright. Instead, it only issued a broad recommendation telling the developer to continue honing its plans.

On Tuesday night, after reading over the packet and hearing brief testimony from OHS members, the committee said it did not realize at the time that the project was in a historic district. 

“This is something that definitely got past us,” committee chairman Don Price said. “We’ve identified a problem in the plan that we need to work through as a community.

The land in question is currently home to woods and a handful of single family homes, including the Padgett House, the former home of a B&O Railroad Employee that has been labeled as “historically significant.”

Committee members also suggested that the guidelines in the master plan and the provisions governing historic areas may be at odds with one another.

“I believe we do have a conflict within the plan,” Price said.

Members of the committee stressed that they have not issued any formal approval of the project. Bob Eitel, a committee member who has also worked as an engineer for The Hogan Cos. on the proposed development, said he was hopeful that there would be a way for the project to move forward while following historic preservation guidelines.

The heritage society did not make its full presentation because the group was a last-minute addition to the meeting’s agenda. The committee will invite both The Hogan Cos. and the heritage society to present at the next meeting on Nov. 29.