Environmental concerns, traffic-flow issues and potential damage to historically significant sites are among the concerns neighbors are raising to a proposed 264-unit housing development along the Middle Patuxent River at the edge of west Columbia.
Recent evidence indicates that the site of the proposed Riverdale project is near caves that might have been used by Harriett Tubman, the runaway slave who led hundreds of slaves to freedom, said Bridget Mugane, president of the Howard County Citizens Association.
But the project of Dale Thompson Builders Inc., slated for a 30-acre site at Cedar Lane and Route 32, is far along in the planning process.
"We encourage the developer to meet with the community and listen to them and to be a good neighbor, but at this moment in time, the opportunity for the neighbors to contest what is being developed legally is past," said Kimberley Flowers, deputy director for planning and zoning for Howard County. "It meets the zoning, it meets the subdivision regulations."
Negotiating room
Still, room for negotiation remains as the project moves forward, Flowers said.
"If it hasn't been built yet, it would seem to me that there's an opportunity between the property owner and the community to engage in discussions of how they can be in a mutually beneficial relationship," Flowers said.
Project plans came back from the developer Jan. 18, and the county Department of Planning and Zoning has 45 days from that date to send it back or to approve it, Flowers said.
Mugane's group finds it troubling that such a project is being contemplated at the edge of the river even as the Columbia Association is working to create a watershed plan.
'Very beautiful'
"It's just so counter to the public policies that have been put in place to protect the watershed," she said. "It's very beautiful. It's sort of a wilderness site. It's heartbreaking to see any development at all there - much less dense development."
No one from Dale Thompson Builders returned phone calls.
The Citizens Association continues to hold meetings to discuss the matter.
"We'd like to find a way to have this become a preservation parcel, or barring that, to reduce it to 140 rather than 262 units," Mugane said.
To Brian England of Hickory Ridge, who has walked the Little Patuxent environmental area for 20 years, the potential environmental implications of the proposed Riverdale development are a major concern.
'Sensitive area'
"That's a sensitive area because it's so near the river," said England, president of British American Auto Care. "At the moment, it's hard to get an idea of what's going on. It's where the river floods, and there are concerns about the flood plain. There's not enough information out there on the environmental impact."
England also is worried about a plan that he said would redirect traffic by funneling cars off Route 32 to a traffic light.
"I think that's crazy," England said. "You inconvenience everyone. I don't get how that's a solution."
Some have criticized the evolution of the project, which has enabled it to get larger through the years.
2004 plans
In 2004, a project proposed by developers Dale Thompson and Donald R. Reuwer called for 140 townhouses and a two-story office building on the site.
By moving a sensitive planning boundary, the project gained immediate access to more than 400 housing allocations in Columbia.
Without the zoning adjustment, the project would have to wait years because housing allocations in the southeastern district had been taken by the Maple Lawn, Maryland and Emerson developments.
june.arney@baltsun.com