One hundred or so people attended a second hearing Tuesday night mainly to voice opposition to a proposal to reduce water and sewer connection fees for the Greenway Farm neighborhood in Havre de Grace.
Residents echoed the comments they made two weeks earlier at city hall.
During that session, however, the council did not have a quorum, which forced the official public hearing and the rest of the agenda for that evening to be postponed until this week. The hearing was moved to the Havre de Grace Community Center on Lagaret Lane to accommodate the large turnout expected.
Unlike the previous session, attended mostly by Bulle Rock residents, Monday's drew a handful of residents of the existing Greenway Farm community, who said they previously had no idea about the plans for their neighborhood.
"I want to know why we weren't directly made aware of the plans to build this complex in our community," Ashira Quabili, who lives on Martha Lewis Drive, said.
Tuesday's meeting wasn't combative, but residents of both communities made clear their concerns.
Council President Bill Martin told the audience that the plan wasn't something "hidden for years."
Councilmembers learned of the proposal the week before Thanksgiving, when members of Southern Land said they wanted to meet with city officials to discuss their proposal. They listened, he said, and thought it might have some merit.
"You've heard this before, it's the bane of our existence. It's not getting better in here," Martin said, referring to the city's ongoing deficit in its water and sewer fund as well as debt service on capital projects.
"Do we have an answer? Absolutely not. We thought it was worth airing out. Nothing is written in stone, it has not been hidden for years," he said. "This is the process, we're still in the process. You're here tonight as part of that process. We are working on this."
The connection fees that are the subject of the amendment being considered by the council aren't the primary concerns of the Bulle Rock residents, though they are tied to it. With the lower connection fees, down to $6,000, below the standard $10,600, Southern Land development company plans to build 500 to 600 apartment units instead of the 204 condos and 210 town homes that were originally planned in the second and third phases of the community. Originally, the plan was for 690 units total among the three phases.
As of Monday, 48 town homes have been built in the third phase.
The issue is the connector roads planned between Greenway Farm and Bulle Rock, specifically Zachman Way, which has been promised by Bulle Rock developers, but not done, Ben Martorana, of the Bulle Rock Homeowners Association, said.
Bulle Rock, he said, does not comply with Harford County codes regarding average daily traffic, a point refuted by David Meiners of Harbor East Management Group and a member of the board of directors for the Bulle Rock Community Association.
"From a resident point of view, we need the city to look after us, to protect us, to work with the developer to ensure codes are enforced and are in compliance," Martorana said.
He has spent about eight hours working with Havre de Grace officials and he suggested a solution: linking the discounted connection fee to completion of the road.
"The single issue is the completion of Zachman Way. All we want is work done that was approved on the comprehensive site plan from the beginning," he said. "To obtain the discounts promised, the developer would post collateral in the form of those assurances to guarantee that Zachman Drive is done."
The developer, he proposed, would only get his incentives when Zachman Drive is finished.
Zachman Way is also an important road to the city in terms of access to developments.
"Zachman Way construction is vitally important to the city. As a city, we have to ensure we have proper access," City Attorney Paul Ishak said.
In terms of the Bulle Rock roads complying with the Harford County Code, Meiners said that according to a study of the roads done by The Traffic Group, "these roadways provide adequate public access and safety for the Bulle Rock Community" as designed and built from approved plans and that they comply with the Harford County Code.
Existing Greenway Farm residents have concerns about the new development proposal for the rest of their community, but are especially concerned about the lack of communication about those plans.
Quabili, of Martha Lewis Boulevard, said she read about the first meeting in the newspaper, and wanted to know why that's the first she heard of it. The residents have no representative on the HOA, which hasn't been turned over yet, and she has heard nothing from Tidewater Properties, which manages the community.
Mayor Wayne Dougherty seemed surprised about Quabili's comments and said he would try and help her and other residents.
Other residents are concerned about the impact so many apartments would have on their home values.
"Greenway Farm would be new competition on ours, put downward pressure on our home values," David Weiner, who moved to Bulle Rock a year and a half ago, said.