Within the 244-acre Green-Ianniello-Patrone tract off Route 155 that the City of Havre de Grace annexed two years ago, the Ianniello property is the first out of the gate with a proposed development plan.
City residents and other interested parties will have an opportunity Monday to hear more about and comment on the plan to construct approximately 324 apartments, targeted for people age 55 and older, on almost 15 acres with arguably one of the best views along the upper end of the Chesapeake Bay. The hearing on the concept plan for the Mt. Felix Winery property will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Last fall, the owners sought and were granted a waiver by Harford County to possibly accelerate development of their property. Peter Ianniello, who owns Mt. Felix with his wife, Mary, explained that even with favorable economic conditions, in particular low interest rates, developers wouldn't seriously look at his property if they were going to have to wait three years to get started.
Without the county waiver, development would not have been able to commence until 2019, the fifth anniversary of the annexation. The five-year holding period was imposed by the state in the 1970s in an effort to foster an orderly development process following annexations and to dissuade municipalities from gobbling up land willy-nilly and then immediately upzoning it, essentially circumventing a county's existing zoning review process.
The Mt. Felix waiver was a signal to city officials that the clock was ticking much faster on the inevitable development of the Green-Ianniello-Patrone tract. There will be many more development plans to come as the holding period on the remaining 229 acres gets closer to expiration.
"The intent of the hearing is to gather information about the proposed development plans for all of these parcels as they move forward," City Councilman Michael Hitchings explained last week, as he also noted the three properties have separate owners and, ultimately, would be subject to separate concept approvals by the city.
During the annexation process, which covered about six months in 2013-14, there was considerable talk by the mayor and city council of a need to develop a cohesive plan for the whole tract's future development. All of the properties were zoned for agriculture by the county. In the city, they are zoned for residential/business use.
Significant as it is by itself, the Green-Ianniello-Patrone tract is part of a larger growth puzzle that includes the Scenic Manor/Cherry Hill Farm tract, where development is set to resume after legal issues with the city were resolved last year, and the Upper Chesapeake tract, where a new medical center is expected to be completed by 2020. The concept plan for Mt. Felix may be a sensible proposed use for that site, but it needs to be considered as part of the whole, not just on its own.
Over the past 30 years, Havre de Grace has had considerable experience with annexations and their subsequent development impacts. There's a tendency for elected officials to see dollar signs when new development is proposed. In Havre de Grace, with its spiraling water and sewer deficit – caused mainly by too many inflated expectations of development-generated riches that didn't materialize – the prospect for things to get going on the Green-Ianniello-Patrone tract shouldn't be an occasion to throw caution to the wind.
At best, new development, particularly residential, creates a financial wash for affected local governments. Seldom does it produce a windfall, and quite often it creates a financial burden. In this instance, city officials should move cautiously and judiciously.