Harford News

City of Aberdeen Panning Commission met June 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:

A meeting of the Aberdeen Planning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m., June 13, 2018, in the Council Chambers by Chairman Schlottman.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Mark Schlottman, Commissioners Jim Baxendell, Dominique Edwards, Michael Hiob, Jason Kolligs, and Amy Snyder

OTHERS PRESENT: Phyllis Grover, Director of Planning & Community Development

Taylor Whichard, City Engineer

Councilwoman Sandy Landbeck, Council liaison

Gil Jones, Recording Secretary

The minutes of the May 9, 2018, meeting were approved as presented.

AGENDA ITEMS:

1. Review Revised Final Plat One for Middleton Holdings Property

Location: Corner of Middelton Road and Maryland Route 22.

Representative: Dudley Campbell, Bay State Land Services, and Brad Stover, attorney, Shaffer, McLauchlin & Stover.

Mr. Campbell indicated this revision is needed as a result of the Starbucks being located on this lot. The original plat was approved in November 2009. The revision is also needed due to the widening of Maryland Route 22, the shortened Middelton Road roadbed, and the narrowed Parcel A. An e-mail from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to Mrs. Grover states that the wetlands originally shown on Lot 3 are not wetlands. An easement was also added for a City water meter vault. Mr. Stover added his comments as to the legal documentation needed to affect this change when it is presented to the Mayor and City Council for approval.

Mrs. Grover read into the record the comments from Rich Zeller of the State Highway Administration (SHA) that the plat accurately reflects the needs of the SHA.

Mrs. Grover’s only comments were to add a statement under the Supersedes Note addressing the conveyance of the right-of-way for Middelton Road to the City of Aberdeen, and include the hash marks for all ingress/egress easements.

Mr. Whichard had no comments.

Mr. Hiob asked why the wetlands were removed; Mr. Campbell said when his company accepted the job of revising the plat that he contacted the Army Corps of Engineers and MDE, both of whom made site visits and determined they were falsely labeled. Mr. Hiob asked that the water and sewer note be removed; Mrs. Grover said this note is a requirement of the Health Department and as such must be retained.

Mr. Schlottman said the plan shows 6.952 acres, but his calculation comes up with 6.27 acres; Mr. Campbell said the roadbed of Middelton Road to be dedicated to the City needs to be included as well.

Mr. Schlottman asked what the difference is between wetlands and forest retention; Mr. Campbell said wetlands have three features (presence of water or saturation to some degree, specific types of vegetation, and specific types of soil), while forest retention deals with tree coverage and retention of same.

Motion by Mr. Hiob, seconded by Mrs. Edwards, to approve the Revised Final Plat One, with inclusion of staff comments. Motion passed unanimously.

2. Presentation by Mr. Howard Kohn of The Chesapeake Group – Feasibility Study for the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Festival Square Area

Mrs. Grover indicated this presentation has been given before the Economic Development Commission and the Mayor and City Council, and that Mr. Kohn and his company have done a number of projects with the City in the past.

Mr. Kohn’s power point presentation touched on a number of aspects of the TOD area in general and certain program pursuits in specific, such as defining realistic opportunities, mitigation of negatives, identifying market and demand, priorities for the area, facilitating opportunities, assurance of public safety, retail and recreational opportunities, recruitment of developer/investor interest, and preparation and dissemination of marketing materials.

Chairman Schlottman thanked Mr. Kohn for his presentation. He noted that there are many players in an endeavor of this sort and that the City has little or no control over those players, making it sometimes very difficult to work together. He cited the example of the empty Merritt office building, getting SHA to cut the grass in the median on Route 40, the continual construction on Route 22, and the comments from the public of “how come Aberdeen hasn’t.,” and asked if these issues had been discussed. Mr. Kohn said they had been behind closed doors and feels it very important that the City take care of itself first and make sure everyone is working together, presenting and speaking loudly in “one voice” in terms of goals and aspirations.

Mrs. Grover advised the Planning Commission that the Mayor and City Council recently passed a number of ordinances to give various monetary incentives to potential developers/investors. Mr. Kohn felt these were steps that needed to be taken. Councilwoman Landbeck said the City’s retail consultant has done well and good feedback was received from the recent listening session. Mrs. Grover added that the City has recently hired a part-time security guard to patrol the train station and downtown area.

Chairman Schlottman reiterated his “many players” comment and expressed concern at Mr. Kohn’s “behind closed doors” comment. Mr. Kohn said this relates to the frank discussions held with some of the entities that have not been particularly cooperative in the past. He added that the power point presentation shows what can be done in the here and now for those things under the City’s control.

There being no further business or public comment, the meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.

http://aberdeenmd.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=aberdeenmd_9da54b24aac0b11b461dc87f342b4150.pdf&view=1