Minutes From October Meeting of Town Center Committee

met on Oct. 25.

These are the official minutes from that meeting, as drafted by a member of the committee. They are subject to the approval of the committee and may be revised.

The next committee meeting will be held on Nov. 29, and an agenda will be posted. 

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Odenton Town Center Oversight Committee Meeting Notes

October 25, 2011

Committee Members Present:  Donald Price, Teresa Birge, Norman Myers, James M. Fraser, David Douglas, Bob Eitel, Claire Louder,

Committee Members Absent:  None

County Staff Present:  Michael Fox

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

Acceptance of Previous Agenda: moved by Teresa, seconded by Bob - unanimous

Acceptance of Previous Meeting Notes: moved by Norm and seconded by Bob - unanimous

New Business:

• Jim Pieffer, MDOT, and George Cardwell, AA County Transportation, discussed the proposed Transit Oriented Development that is being proposed on the MARC’s north parking lot off of Hale Street. The State, AA County and Odenton Square LLC are seeking a Federal Tiger Grant to assist with the cost of a parking garage so that they can move forward with a first phase of residential apartments, some retail and parking. The presenters were seeking a letter of support from the Odenton Town Center Oversight Committee supporting their efforts and the project. The Committee voted to endorse the plan and send a letter of support. Chairman Donald Price recused himself to avoid any potential conflict because of his work with the Department of Transportation and recommended Claire Louder take the lead. The motion to support the project and draft a letter so doing was made by Teresa Birge and seconded by David Douglas with unanimous support and one recusal   Claire Louder was charged with the task of drafting the letter of support and getting it to Jim Pieffer and George Cardwell.

• Roger White, President, and Sally Shoemaker, Secretary, of the Odenton Heritage Society, Inc. came to the committee to discuss the proposed development south of the MARC’s  east parking lot, east of the railroad tracks and west of  North Patuxent Road. Their concerns were about the density, height and the approval of the project. The committee clarified that no approval had been given. It was stated that the three story height and density would be further considered for approval but that the developer needed to do more home work prior to any approval. The Heritage Society did bring to the fore front the Historic Overlay and how that had to be taken into consideration. The Committee and staff acknowledged further consideration of the Historic district was required and proposed follow up meetings for that purpose.. The OTCPOC agreed to meet with the Heritage Society at their museum and get a better feel for the history and their concerns. The Chair acknowledged that the committee has now heard from both the Developer and the Heritage Society separately in an informal and general manner. It was recommended that both the Heritage Society and the Developer come to the November 29^th meeting in order for the OTC Committee to hear both sides of any issues.  All present were in agreement. Also, it was established that Roger White will become the recipient of the e-mail blasts that go out announcing the meetings and the agendas since the account on file no longer appears to be valid.

• Claire Louder discussed the West County Expo and Tour indicated attendance was good and felt it had benefits for all. Claire mentioned that they will be reviewing its impact and continue to look at ways to continue to improve it.

Old Business:

• As per the OTC Master Plan, the County’s Office of Planning and Zoning (OPZ) has responsibility for preparing the annual Growth Management Report (GMR) for Odenton Town Center to be used by appropriate county offices and leaders during the annual budget planning process. The OTC Committee is responsible for providing input during the preparation of the report. Committee members discussed the input provided to OPZ to date and the ongoing development of the GMR. Concerns were raised by members concerning the possibility that the Report may not accurately reflect the priorities for OTC as identified by the committee. The committee discussed and preliminarily identified the following priority lists for recommended inclusion in the GMR.  :
  • Sewer
  • 175 widening
  • MARC Station
  • Sidewalks along Annapolis Roads
  • Extension of Bike trails

Other Recommendations mentioned:

• Impact Zone
• Community Benefit District
• MARC Bridge
• State Funds
• TIF

These were continuous ideas and the committee will continue reviewing priority recommendations. Staff explained that for the most part allocation is all based on cost of project versus money available to proceed and complete a project.

Committee member Jamie Fraser accepted responsibility for leading an effort to coordinate, through email, further clarification on the priorities and to draft a letter for OPZ identifying any changes to the previous input provided to the OPZ for inclusion in the annual GMR.

• Discussed agenda items and a drop dead time for being placed on an agenda etc.
  • Agreed that the agenda will go out for approval to Donald and Claire the last  Friday prior to the Tuesday meeting.
  • The committee agreed that the agenda will be closed for any new additions the Tuesday prior to the schedule meeting.  No new additions will be added unless coordinated with the committee chairman.
    • By 3:00 PM the Tuesday one week prior to the meeting, the Agenda will go out to the committee unless notified by either Donald or Claire prior to that time of any changes.  A copy will also provided to Tim Lemke at timl@patch.com for the purpose of posting to the Odenton Patch which is an online newspaper covering issues in and around Odenton.  The committee agreed the use of the Online Patch for posting of both the meeting agendas and minutes will be one of its primary means to communicate to Odenton residents committee actions and decisions.  It was unanimously decided that there WILL NOT be a meeting on December 27, 2011.