West Annapolis growth plan criticized

By RYAN JUSTIN FOX Staff Writer

Published February 06, 2009

West Annapolis residents showed up in force at City Hall last night to protest plans for major commercial and residential development in their part of town over the next 10 years.

"This plan calls for an amount and scale of new development that is not in the best interest of Annapolis and, in my judgment, is not what our citizens want," said Trudy McFall, a West Annapolis resident and a mayoral candidate.

The Comprehensive Plan Citizen Advisory Committee is crafting the Planning Commission Review Plan, a 10-year outline of recommended growth and development for Annapolis.

The city Planning Commission watched a PowerPoint presentation from the 27-member committee in front of a standing-room only audience.

The plan calls for more density and development along four major thoroughfares, which the plan calls "Opportunity Areas," in West Annapolis, Bay Ridge Road, Forest Drive and Outer West Street.

The committee's plan, which used data provided by city officials and input from citizens, envisions mixed-use, small-scale urban development similar to The Kentlands development in Gaithersburg and the Clarendon Center development in Arlington, Va.

Planners said they would like to see land parcels consolidated for more office space and neighborhood retail stores. Residential development would come in the form of mid-rise buildings, no taller than four stories.

Development would be targeted for the commercial sections of West Annapolis near the intersections of Rowe Boulevard and Taylor Avenue and Ridgely and Melvin avenues.

McFall said the plan would add more than 230 housing units, which would double the number of homes in her neighborhood, and bring 135,000 square feet of additional office space.

"We need to plan for growth which is more modest, more carefully controlled to coordinate with transportation and at a scale and design that keeps Annapolis the unique and special place it is," McFall said.

The plan's authors said that portion of West Annapolis is prime for development since it is a major gateway to the city with scenic views heading toward downtown.

The Comprehensive Plan Committee, a volunteer group of business leaders and civic activists, has met monthly for the past two years to put together the growth blueprint.

State law mandates that municipalities put together long-term development plans every 10 years.

The Planning Commission was required to hold the public hearing on the latest draft of the growth plan before it submits its own revisions.

That revised plan would then head to the City Council, which also will hold a public meeting sometime this spring before it votes to adopt the plan.