124 Active Adult Villas Proposed On Moores Mill Road

BEL AIR, MD — A developer is proposing 124 single-family attached homes with garages on Moores Mill Road to accommodate housing for those who are 55 and up.

The older adult community would be located at 1112 Moores Mill Road.

Based on Harford County regulations, officials said nobody under 19 years old could live there.

During a community input meeting this week on the project, residents in the area said they were concerned about traffic and flooding.

The site is 58 acres, and 42 acres would be open space, plans show.

While the zoning would allow for 407 homes, engineer Daniel Striker said the developers want to keep most of the site as green space and to stick with 124 attached homes.

Called Creekside, the active adult community would include 73 villas that are 28 feet wide and 51 homes that are 24 feet wide. Each house would be about 1,800 square feet, according to Striker.

The entrance to the community would not be aligned with Southampton Middle School, Striker said.

Even so, several residents said they were concerned about traffic, which comes to a standstill on Moores Mill Road when school starts and ends. One area noted in particular was the crosswalk near the school.

"I talked to someone who almost hit a child there," said Lynne McMennamin, a Bancroft Court resident. She said she hoped that would be considered as developers continue planning.

A traffic study is underway, according to Amy DiPietro of Morris & Ritchie Associates. She said seven intersections will be considered near Creekside.

The traffic study will be submitted in May, before the Harford County Development Advisory Committee meeting, DiPietro said. Currently project officials are targeting the June 15 meeting.

Several Moores Mill Road residents said flooding was problematic and wondered what the plans were for stormwater management.

"There is a terrible problem with flooding,” said Jennifer Stuart, who lives on Moores Mill Road. "When it floods, it’s not just up to the bridge — it’s over the bridge." She said she had waited out storms near the Greenbrier Shopping Center across the street since the road was covered in water.

Project officials said they would be following all requirements for stormwater management.

Bill Montanary of Falstaff Court suggested putting the development where Eva Mar was, since infrastructure is in place at that site but construction has stopped.

"Overall, I think it’s a bad spot," Montanary said of the plan to put Creekside on Moores Mill Road.

The property where Creekside is located is under contract but has not closed yet, according to Elm Street representative Michael Charlton.

While Charlton is developing the single-family home neighborhood of Eva Mar, he said he is not the developer of Carsins Run at Eva Mar.

Related: Carsins Run At Eva Mar Will Not Be Built: Harford County Official

Montanary said he had a "really big problem" with the fact that Harford County had not done anything to preserve the Southhampton farmhouse, which was built in 1790.

"This thing should be on a historical register," Montanary said. "It should not be getting developed."

Creekside representatives said their plan was to make the farmhouse into a clubhouse for use by the residents of the active adult community.

"You shouldn't be helping them to build the damn thing," Montanary said to those at the meeting Monday night at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. "You should be finding a way to stop them."

Jay Young, the attorney representing the developers, said the zoning had been in place for decades for this property to be developed, and the owners wanted to sell it. They had restored the farmhouse as well, he said.

"This property has been zoned for this use for at least 40 years,” Young said. “We don’t need any approvals" as far as the use. He said he attended a hearing like this for Amyclae years ago where residents were up in arms about traffic and the impact to their community.

"Everybody said the same thing, and if they had stopped it, Amyclae wouldn’t be there," Young said. "It’s zoned. It’s private property...They can do what they want with their house. I just want you to understand the legal parameters here. Saying we don’t want this project doesn’t mean it’s going to work."

When development was proposed in the area in 2007, Young said there was a question raised about a gravesite.

"There is not and never has been a graveyard on the property," Young said. "We had to have experts come in with these machines that shoot waves down into the ground that can determine whether or not there was a graveyard." He said a court order made it official that "there are no gravesites on the property and development can proceed."

Next Steps For Creekside

The community input meeting was the first step of a process that could be about three years, according to Striker.

"It takes about 18 months from this point until plans are approved and construction can get started,” Spiker said at the community input meeting Monday, April 25.

After processing the feedback, project planners will next appear before the Harford County Development Advisory Committee. See the plans for Creekside online.

If the plans are approved, then construction would also take about 18 months until the homes are move-in ready, according to Striker.

PREVIOUS REPORT: A community input meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Monday, April 25, at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 1200 East Churchville Rd. People can dial in at 646-749-3122 or listen online.