While it's well known that the Middle River Depot property along Eastern Boulevard has been approved for commercial development, only a relatively few of us know the details of what the owners call "Martin's Landing."
Economic development can be a good thing — provided it's not hurtful to the families who live immediately adjacent to it. In this case, there are 804 such families who are the residents of Peppermint Woods and Williams Estates. I'm proud to be one of them, and president of the Baltimore County Mobile Homeowners Association.
Martin's Landing is basically a Walmart Supercenter, some restaurants and other stores — and a four story, mixed used mall that's planned to go inside the larger of the two Glenn L. Martin buildings that's protected by the Maryland Historical Trust. The plan was approved by the county some time ago, well before we were aware of its nature.
According to the most recent site plan for Martin's Landing, the east wall of the proposed Walmart Supercenter is just 106 feet from one of our homes, with others nearby. The roadway around the Supercenter — the service road that Walmart will be using to receive its overnight deliveries — comes within just 25 feet of some of our homes.
Given how close our 804 residences are to the Martin's Landing complex, we are understandably concerned about the following issues:
•Noise pollution, particularly considering that the restaurants will be open late and the Supercenter will be operating — receiving deliveries and with customers coming and going — 24 hours a day.
•Light pollution, particularly with respect to the light given off by the Supercenter and the parking lot immediately in front of it.
•Security issues related to unregulated access to the property 24 hours a day.
•Traffic and its effect on local air quality.
•Implications of toxic chemicals in the Martin's Landing property for the groundwater that may be leaching into our yards and into the waterways across Eastern Boulevard.
•The possibility that construction may drive rats from the Martin's Landing site to our properties — as has happened in other Baltimore County communities.
•Whether the plans will properly preserve the historic building in which Glenn L. Martin built bombers in support of our victory in World War II.
•The lack of adequate on-site parking. According to the plan, the developer is more than 1,000 parking spaces short of the county's requirements. We don't want our community to turn into an off-site parking lot for Martin's Landing customers, employees and residents.
•The likelihood that the Carroll Island Shopping Center — where most of our families currently shop — closes and remains vacant.
•The negative impact of competition from the Walmart and other proposed Martin's Landing retail activity on established restaurants and other merchants that we support along with the detrimental impact upon our property values.
Quite the list, isn't it?
Soon after we became aware of the plan for Martin's Landing, we wrote to the owner of the Depot property. Our objective was to meet with the owner to discuss our concerns and work out solutions that would be mutually acceptable. That was months ago. No meeting has been scheduled yet, but we're hopeful that one might be arranged soon after the new year.
My concern is that we alone will not have the clout to encourage the developer to make substantive changes to the plan. And that's why I've written this piece, to encourage the good people of our greater community to help us get the attention of the owner and the various government authorities whose assistance we need –— including, among others, the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Even though the Martin's Landing development plan has been approved by the county, it is not too late to make changes to that plan related to our concerns and those of other residents and businesses in our greater community. In fact, there are laws — particularly as the pertain to environmental issues — that can and should affect the nature of the development the owners have planned. On behalf of our association and the 804 families living adjacent to Martin's Landing, we ask for your support.
Paul Svoboda is president of the Baltimore County Mobile Homeowners Association. His email is paulsvoboda@comcast.net.