Odenton Master Plan Faces Scrutiny by Board of Appeals

The company looking to develop 48 townhouses on North Patuxent Road said Tuesday night that the area’s master plan clearly gives them the right to build. 

Local residents and preservation advocates insisted that the master plan says the opposite. 

The Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals will be the final arbiter of the dispute, which has highlighted the tug-and-pull between those looking for higher density in the middle of the Odenton Town Center and those looking to preserve older, less dense sections of town. 

Tuesday night featured two hours of testimony, mostly from representatives of Elm Street Development, which submitted plans for 48 townhouses and three single-family homes near the corner of North Patuxent Road and Becknel Avenue. The county Office of Planning and Zoning approved sketch plans for the project in July, but the decision was appealed by two nearby residents and the Odenton Heritage Society.

The key issue of debate Tuesday centered on the question of whether the Odenton Town Center Master Plan allows for high density development on North Patuxent Road, in an area identified as the town’s historic district. 

“The issue here is whether the density is allowed by right,” said Shep Trullier, a land use planner representing Elm Street. “It’s not density that the owner is just requesting, it’s density that is given by right.”

Opponents, however, said provisions of the master plan relating to the historic district trump any reference to high density being allowed. They point to language in the plan calling for new development to maintain the character and cohesiveness of the neighborhood. In their view, townhouses don’t fit in an area made up entirely of single family homes.

“What this is going to do is change the fundamental nature of the historic district, which is what the plan is supposed to protect,” said David Tibbets, an attorney for local residents. “Either the plan means something or it doesn’t.”

The Board of Appeals was scheduled to hear more testimony Tuesday, and has scheduled at least three more meetings in November and December. Members of the board said they would visit the property in question and the surrounding area on Saturday. 

See also: 

• North Patuxent and the Master Plan: A Primer