Denial of a railroad crossing for Farm Woods Lane is only a temporary derailment of the developer's plans to expand the North Carroll Farms development.
"I am not worried about it," said Martin K. P. Hill, owner of Woodhaven Building & Development Inc. "I am confident this can be worked out."
CSX Transportation "declined the request for safety reasons," in a letter dated Nov. 11 from its Jacksonville, Fla., office.
Without CSX approval, Farm Woods Lane, the main road through the development of several hundred homes, cannot be extended west to Route 30. Mr. Hill plans to add another 220 homes in Phase IV of the development north of Hampstead.
CSX officials said the proposed road would create another at-grade railroad crossing at a time when railroads are faced with federal requirements to reduce such crossings.
Hampstead has, within its corporate limits, about 10 crossings, several of which are not in use. The town has offered to close three little-used crossings in exchange for the proposed one.
"At present, to get to the town of Hampstead the residents of this subdivision never cross our tracks," wrote H. Clark Worsham, CSX public projects engineer. "If the crossing was permitted, most of the residents would probably use it and cross our track twice. CSXT is not agreeable to assume this liability."
Without the additional crossing, most residents will continue to drive south along Fairmount Avenue to reach Route 30 at an intersection rated F, the lowest rating given by the State Highway Administration. Most intersections along Route 30 through Hampstead are rated E for their poor level of service.
"The crossing was a condition of approval for Phase IV," said Jeanne Joiner, county planner for Hampstead. "Residents need the egress and ingress across the railroad to Route 30. We don't want to dump more traffic onto Fairmount Road and into an intersection that is already failed."
Town Manager John A. Riley made the CSX letter public last week. He said several residents have asked him what impact the denial has on North Carroll Farms Phase IV.
"Everybody wants me to say Phase IV can't be built," he said. "I am not saying that."
In August, despite residents' protests, the town Planning and Zoning Commission approved the next phase of the development. Several residents have filed an appeal of the commission's action with the county Board of Zoning Appeals and are awaiting a hearing.
"The commission should have denied the project, based on inadequate facilities in the town," said Councilman Wayne Thomas. "We have severe problems with roads and overcrowded schools."
Ms. Joiner said that the proposed road extension has been on the county master plan for Hampstead since 1986 and that the railroad's action "caught everyone by surprise."
"The railroad was certainly aware of the plan, and the town has been sending them information on it," Ms. Joiner said. "If the railroad doesn't let us cross, we may have to redo the plan."
Although the proposed extension would not be the only outlet for the development, it is definitely needed, Mr. Riley said.
"This road has been planned since the '70s," Mr. Riley said. "I don't see the development working without the crossing. It would be a major outlet for the new section as well as the rest of the development."
Mr. Hill said the crossing may be needed but is not absolutely necessary.
"The crossing offers residents a better route, but without it, they are not denied access to Route 30," he said.
Mr. Hill said he does not consider the CSX letter a denial of the crossing. "The letter is questionable to me," he said. "If they are denying, why are they asking the town to withdraw its request?"
He also said CSX has been aware of the plan for several years.
"Since the late '60s, the railroad has given the town verbal approval for this project," Mr. Hill said. "They have been advised that the town is putting it into its [road system] design."
The federal government is requiring railroads to reduce the number of crossings by 25 percent within the next five years.
"Wherever it is absolutely necessary to add a crossing, we must attempt to close three," said CSX spokeswoman Kathy Burns.
But she added that even when other crossings are closed, the railroad would prefer not to add any new ones.
Mr. Riley said the town has agreed to close three crossings within 2,000 feet of the proposed one.
"Two are already closed," he said. "The third will be phased out, when section five of the development comes in."