Odenton Town Center Committee Hears New Development Proposal

Odenton residents soon could forgo commutes in favor of living where they work if a proposed development of townhomes and businesses gets county approval.

Officials from the Hogan Companies and its engineers presented plans for the project, tentatively called the North Patuxent Road Development, to the Tuesday.

The committee is appointed by the county to review plans related to development projects in Odenton. It is charged with ensuring development is line with guidelines set in the . 

The project would call for possibly 12 businesses and townhomes off North Patuxent Road. The number of townhomes has not been determined, but the officials said it should not be more than 95 percent.

County zoning rules state the ratio should be 20 percent businesses to 80 percent residential in such projects, but the officials said this was not in line with their hopes for the project.

The businesses also would be along the lines of an art gallery or a photography studio or service-based, such as accountants and lawyers, said Bob Eitel, a civil engineer working on the project. Eitel is also a committee member, but he recused himself from the discussion and votes.

"This is pretty exciting when you think about it. It's similar to what the city of Annapolis was at one point, where merchants had lived above their buildings," he said, adding Annapolis officials, like many other municipalities nationwide, banned the practice when zoning codes came into effect. "It contributed, in many cases, to killing the downtowns."

Project officials sought the committee's approval of the conceptual plan, which they said the county Office of Planning and Zoning needed before approving a preliminary plan.

Some committee members objected to plans to change the townhomes from three-story to four-story buildings. But the change was needed after the Hogan Companies officials, in response to committee members' requests at the May meeting, changed the site plan to allow for an increased buffer of trees, which meant reducing the number of buildings, said Tim Hogan, executive vice president.

When committee chairman Don Price said he objected to four-story townhomes, Hogan said the project needed to make sense for his company to proceed.

"In order for us to move forward, it has to make sense financially," he said.

Changing the buildings from three stories to four is in line with the zoning code's bonus program, which allows builders to improve the aesthetics of a project through things like road improvements and landscaping, Eitel said after the meeting.

Much of the discussion had hinged on whether the changes would fall under the bonus program or if these were modifications.

Modifications pertain to specific numbers in the code, such as reducing the number of businesses from 20 percent to 5 percent, Eitel said after the meeting.

"I don't think they presented enough details for me as a committee member," Price said.

"But that's not what they're asking for. They're asking whether it's worth putting any more money into it. We already asked them to come back once, after saying what they wanted wouldn't fly," said committee member Claire Louder, president and CEO of the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.

The committee approved a three-part motion related to the project. The first part, unanimously approved, accepts the site plan with sensitivity to neighbors' needs.

The second part allows the Hogan Companies to take advantage of the bonus program with the four stories it sought if officials can show the plan meets the bonus program. Price was the sole dissenter.

The third part allows for a modification lowering the number of business required from 20 percent to 5 percent, based on the plan's requirements and if it could be met by a live-work component. Committee member Joe Gorman was the sole dissenter.

If the project receives all county approvals, the earliest construction could start would be 2014, Eitel said after the meeting.