Recap: Odenton Town Center Committee Examines N. Patuxent Project

Editor's note: These are the draft minutes from the Odenton Town Center Plan Oversight Committee meeting from Nov. 29, 2011. The committee will vote on approval of the minutes at its next meeting on Jan. 31.

The committee did not meet in December. The minutes are subject to review and edits. Patch posts the meeting minutes as-is at the request of committee, and is not responsible for the contents.

The committee will next meet on Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m. inside the Odenton Historical Center at 1367 Odenton Rd., Odenton. Patch will post the agenda in advance.

Odenton Town Center Oversight Committee Meeting Notes

November 29, 2011

Committee Members Present:  Donald Price, David Douglas, Robert Eitel, Claire Louder, Teresa Birge, Norman Myers (left at 9:00 PM), James M. Fraser

Committee Members Absent: 

County Staff Present:  Michael Fox, Parag Agrawal

Meeting Location:  Western District Police Station, 8273 Telegraph Rd., Odenton, MD  21113

New Business:

• Odenton Heritage Society / Hogan - North Patuxent Road Site. Hear developer’s intentions and ideas, hear concerns from the Heritage Society so that the requirements of the Historic Overlay may be met.
  • Tim Hogan, Project Developer: He informed the Committee that they will not be presenting any formal development drawings today; the project is at a very preliminary stage and various options are being looked at; appreciated the input of the Odenton Historical Society (OHS); OHS wants to preserve the single family street character and the density could be oriented towards the rail tracks; OHS has also asked the developer to conduct a detailed inventory of the historic resources in the neighborhood.
  • Roger White, Odenton Historical Society (OHS): OHS had a very cordial meeting with the developer; the Historical Society wants new development but the proposed development should respect the historic character; the Office of Planning and Zoning (OPZ) makes the final decision about the contributing buildings in the historic district; OHS primary role is advocacy; County has determined that two structures on the site are contributing; OHS encourages the developer to schedule more workshop type sessions so that the details of the proposed development can be reviewed.
  • Committee Chair Don Price: OPZ has the responsibility to inform the Committee and the project developer about all contributing historic buildings that are present on the site; the developer and the OHS should work together; OPZ should also be involved in the proposed work sessions.

After the presentation and discussion, Committee Chair Don Price asked for the public comments:

• Appreciates the work of Odenton Historical Society (OHS); the developer should also include greenways and open spaces in the discussion; the developer should be in full compliance with the forest conservation requirements; there is a issue of overburdened access roads; Odenton Rd. and North Patuxent Rd. can not handle any additional traffic.
• Odenton Historical Society should be part of the Oversight Committee; OHS should be well informed about the various development activities going on in the community.
• There is a sense of frustration in the community; people are not informed about the various projects in their neighborhood; notices should be given to the community informing them about the various development projects.
• All the neighborhood residents should be well informed about the various development activities; OHS should play a key role and they should participate in the discussion.

• Proposed development of 234 apartment units, "Aura at Odenton Town Center”
• Bonaventure has entered into a contract with the developer to construct apartment units.
• The proposed development will consist of 234 apartment units and 10,500 sq feet of retail space.
• The retail component will consist of live work units; apartment buildings will have of a community room, business center and a gym that will be marketed to the public.
• The developer is seeking 6 modifications to develop the apartment buildings.
• The developer informed the Committee that the County Planning and Zoning Officer has reviewed these plans and is supportive of the development.

After the presentation, Committee Chair Don Price asked for comments from the Committee members:

• Don Price: expressed his concerns with including the live work units and the apartment community center and gym as part of the retail component; supports the live work units,  not in favor of including apartment gym and the community center as part of the retail requirement; the Committee members should have the opportunity to review the modifications prior to the meeting so that they can make an informed decision at the meeting; cautioned the Committee members to review the Master Plan and see whether the proposed development meets the intent of the land use mix requirements; expressed his concerns with approving the required modifications as the required information has not been presented by the developer.
• James Fraser: The Plan call for 100 percent retail on the ground floor; the Committee is looking for walkable streets; storefronts may be empty in the beginning, but the option of retail should be there; support the live work units as the retail component.
• David Douglas: There should be more narrative about why the developer is seeking these modifications; there should have been more focused presentation and discussion; the developers should go through the list of items listed in Section 1.3 of Chapter 5 in the Master Plan and explain how the sought modifications comply with the Plan requirements.
• Teresa Birge: Supports the concept of live work units; the community needs retail spaces such as gym, community center, business center etc; these retail activities should be planned in a way so that they encourage walkability.
• Claire Louder: The Community needs retail spaces such as business center and community center; there is a need of smaller store fronts in the community where businesses such as barber shop, photo studio, hair salon etc can be leased out; the figure 3-2 of the Master Plan lists the allowed retail uses in the Town Center, community clubs, private clubs, community centers are all allowed retail spaces.
• Norman Myers: expressed his concerns with the project.

After presentation and resulting discussion, following motions were made:

There were a total of 7 members present at the meeting. Committee member Norman Myers departed prior to the final deliberations for personal reasons. Committee member Robert Eitel recused himself from committee deliberations and votes. The requested modifications and the results of the votes are as follows:

1. A time extension of sixty working days from December 9 to submit final development plans that address the review comments previously issued and to incorporate refinements in the project layout and architecture.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the modification.

2. Written confirmation that a previously approved modification, (#11411, item 2, dated March 30, 2011) for relief from the horizontal setback from all public streets, remains in effect and is applicable to the revised plan.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the written confirmation of this previously approved modification.

3. Proposal to fill the required retail space in part with five live-work rental units to be leased to small shop owners and professionals. Modification is sought to confirm that the floor area of the proposed live-work rental units, with the exception of the bedroom space, can be counted toward the minimum retail use area requirement of 10,500 square feet; and that the units may be used by both small retail users and professional office users.

The committee voted 4 to 1 (Price-against) for approval of this modification request, with the exclusion of the bedroom space from the required floor area.

4. A modification is sought to allow a combination of retail and office space in the remaining portion of the 10,500 square foot retail area of Building 2. A motion was made to recommend allowing approval of this modification request, with the stipulation that the retail space open to the public have welcoming, opening signage; separate entrances to the community center area and the apartment community; and that the apartment developer create a marketing plan for the retail amenities open to the public.

This motion failed with a vote of 2 in favor (Birge, Lowder), 2 against (Price & Douglas) and 1 abstention (Fraiser). There was a general consensus that the committee would like to revisit this issue if they could see more details that the retail open to the public is more public oriented.

5. A modification is sought to modify the percentage of the required total 20% Open Area form 15% to 10% minimum activity are and from 5% to 10% minimum green area. The total Open Area proposed is still approximately 54.7%.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the modification request.

6. A modification is sought to reduce the total number of parking spaces provided by 10% based on a sharing of spaces between uses.

The committee voted 4 to 1 (Price abstained) to recommend approval of this modification request.

• Columbia Bank at Seven Oaks, Jon Halle
  • Project Developer Jon Halle presented the renderings of the proposed Columbia Bank building in the Seven Oaks shopping center.
  • The developer should try to encourage the pedestrian movement by planning a pedestrian pathway connecting the proposed development with the sidewalks on Blue Water Blvd.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of the development request.

• Discuss progress in the drafting of the Growth Management Report.
• County staff informed the Committee that they are working to finalize the Growth Management Report. The Report will be presented in the January meeting.