Sparks-Glencoe Community Planning Council

Hereford Road Development
Community Input Meeting
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 7PM
Hereford High School

This meeting is the community's opportunity to ask questions and give input regarding plans to further subdivide property on Hereford Road. The property is part of an area that has already been divided into three parcels. One of the three parcels, of approximately 6 acres, is now proposed for subdivision into two parcels.

This proposal raises environmental concerns because the area is predominantly wooded and contains wetlands. Additionally, the topography is steeply sloped in areas, making stormwater management more difficult, and increasing the likelihood of erosion and sedimentation entering the waterways. Only specialized stormwater management techniques will be able to handle the runoff, and the developers are not planning to do this. Rather, they plan to use level spreaders, which are notorious for failing, especially under challenging conditions such as those on this property. Further exacerbating the stormwater runoff problem is the amount of impervious surface created by the long panhandle driveway needed to serve all the houses that would be built.

The entrance to this subdivision also raises traffic safety concerns. The intersection of Big Falls and Hereford Roads is close to this intersection, creating the potential for traffic accidents. Also, because of a hump on Hereford Road, the site distance from this intersection to the north is inadequate to ensure traffic safety. The subdivision would exacerbate school overcrowding, because children living in this subdivision would go to Sparks Elementary School, which is over-capacity already. We urge Baltimore County to stand by its Master Plan, which states that residential growth in Hereford needs to be limited. County Planners have noted that residential growth under current zoning has foisted a tremendous cost on the county, in terms of traffic, increased infrastructure demands, and the disruption of the area's rural character. Baltimore County's stated plan is to preserve the character of rural areas, and direct growth inside the Urban/Rural Demarcation Line. Thus, this development proposal is not compatible with the County's Master Plan and should be rejected. Exercise your right to influence the shape of your community by participating in the Community Input Meeting on May 28. For more information, contact Kirsten Burger. (link)

More background: Baltimore County's Office of Planning notes that the proposed use for this land on the Proposed Land Use Map of Baltimore County is Forest and Agriculture/ Open Space. The Department of Recreation and Parks has noted that in lieu of dedicating the amount of land for open space normally required for such a development, a fee would be paid, pending consideration of community input. The developer is also requesting a waiver and paying a fee in lieu of stormwater management requirements pertaining to the amount of impervious surface on the panhandle driveway.

The land subject to this request is currently zoned RC-5, which would permit the proposed housing density, but is within an area for which a downzoning request has been filed by the Sparks-Glencoe Community Planning Council. If the development proposal is approved, and the development rights have vested prior to a change in zoning, the development may proceed. If the development rights have not vested, and if the zoning is changed to a classification which does not allow the proposed density that would occur with the development, then the development may not proceed.