EMMITSBURG, Md. – Now that the Emmitsburg Planning and
Zoning Commission has had some time to look over the draft
town comprehensive plan, the discussion has started about
what should change and what should stay.
Chris
Jakubiak, the town’s planning consultant, met with
the planning and zoning commission on Feb. 13 to start the
process of refining the plan that will guide development
in Emmitsburg for the next 25 years.
“Only
after the public hearing will the Planning Commission make
any final decision on the plan,” Jakubiak explained
to the commission and the audience.
Housing
Jakubiak told the commission that by 2008, Emmitsburg will
have 1,112 houses.
“By
2030, we expect the number of households to reach 1,950
which translates into a population of 4,800,” he said.
Commission
member Tim O’Donnell expressed concern that many of
the new houses might be townhouses and some residents had
expressed reservations about that type of development.
Chairman
Larry Little said, “Townhouses are affordable housing.
They’re not low quality. They’re not low-income
housing.”
O’Donnell
is a supporter of having residences over the new stores
that are proposed along Annandale Road to extend the historic
downtown look of Main Street.
“I
want residences over shops so when the town shuts down,
it isn’t just an empty shell of stores,” O’
Donnell said. He also noted that residential growth would
be necessary to enhance current and proposed businesses.
Open
Space
The
draft plan tries to incorporate the idea of a greenbelt
around the town and many of the properties that would be
in this greenbelt have already been placed into some type
of conservation protection.
“This
greenbelt concept is well on its way to being established
in Emmitsburg,” Jakubiak said.
Parkway
Commission
member Catherine Forrence pointed out that the proposed
parkway that would go around the Emmitsburg’s southwest
edge relieving some of the downtown traffic problems would
go though some environmentally sensitive areas.
Jakubiak
said the parkway wouldn’t solve all of Emmitsburg’s
traffic problems, but “it certainly goes a long way
in improving the traffic situation through the center of
town.”
He
believes the parkway could be done without changing the
character of Mountain View Road, which would become part
of the parkway. Forrence said that a parkway would require
major changes at the Mountain View/Route 140 intersection.
O’Donnell
expressed concerns about the amount of growth that would
need to be supported to pay for the parkway. Developer Andy
Mackintosh estimates the cost of the parkway at $10 million.
In
the end, O’Donnell is not even sure that a parkway
will alleviate some of the truck traffic through downtown.
Jakubiak
seemed to agree with him, saying, “This is a state
trucking route so it will be used for trucking even if we
make it more difficult to use.”
