More retail is planned for the east side of Abingdon's Route 924 on 7.25 acres at Box Hill South Parkway, opposite the Boulevard at Box Hill and on a property that contains a historical marker about the early days of Harford County.
The 33,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail area would include a retail building with a 1,723-square-foot drive-through fast food restaurant or cafe, an 8,882-square-foot-building for AAA automotive use and a 10,433-square-foot car wash, according to preliminary plans.
The historical marker identifies the Constant Friendship area, by which the general area was once known, being acquired in 1761 by Col. Thomas White, "largest colonial landowner in this part of Maryland."
White was the county surveyor for Baltimore County, and thus Harford before it was split off from Baltimore County in 1774. He was also chaplain to the Continental Congress, according to the marker, which along with other such markers can be viewed at http://mht.maryland.gov/historicalmarkers.
Only the AAA and the car wash have expressed interest in the site so far, project manager Gerry Powell, of Frederick Ward Associates, Inc., said at a community input meeting that drew about eight people to the Abingdon Library on June 22.
The developer, Bob Ward Companies, also operating as Box Hill South Commercial, LLC, is asking to combine three parcels into three new lots, to be called Box Hill Corporate Center Lot 1N. The site will back up to a wetland area, behind the Park View at Box Hill senior housing. The Ward organization is the master developer of the Boulevard at Box Hill
A traffic impact study is being conducted and will analyze 10 area intersections, Powell said.
The project would also back up to, but not affect, Truth House Ministry Church, Inc., which has a small building next to a Giant supermarket north of the site.
A couple of residents, who mostly live in houses across Route 924 from the site, said they do not see why the project is needed and were worried about more traffic and development being pushed into every available space.
"Every gas station in Harford County's got a car wash, and you think we need another one in this area that warrants cutting down all those trees?" Patti Sussan said.
The project would next proceed to formal county agency review and then to the Development Advisory Committee.
Powell said Monday he is not sure yet about plans for the historical marker, which was erected before the current Route 24 opened in 1987, when Route 924 was the main highway between Bel Air, Abingdon and Edgewood.
"We're either going to leave it alone or we're going to have to deal with it," he said. "We're investigating the historical marker and it will be protected and/or it will be addressed if necessary."
Construction has been underway around the corner on a 26,100-square-foot Kaiser Permanente building, at Box Hill Corporate Center Drive, behind JC Penney.
No new buildings are planned for the major Boulevard at Box Hill shopping center for now; Powell said Carrabba's Italian Grill had expressed interest in the center but reconsidered.