(3/15) The developer of the Myers Farm
property north of Thurmont is considering
changing his annexation request so that it
would become an annexation of commercial and
office property into the town.
“They’re considering taking the homes out
of the equation,” Mayor Martin Burns said
during a town meeting on Mar. 6.
He met with developer Tom Hudson and the
town attorney prior to the meeting to discuss
options for the Myers Farm annexation request.
Hudson wants Thurmont to annex about 189 acres
into the town to be developed as commercial
space, office space, houses, townhouses and
parks.
“It was a wide-ranging discussion I had
with the mayor,” Hudson said.
According to the mayor, when Hudson asked
what could be done to improve the chance of
annexation approval, Burns told him to remove
the houses from the request. Hudson’s concept
plan of the development, called Thurmont
Commons, includes 228 single-family houses and
112 townhouses to surround a commercial
center.
“The homes are the most draining on the
infrastructure and the businesses aren’t,”
Burns said.
Three of the major tenants in the business
area would be a Home Depot-type store, a Wal-Mart-type
store and a 15,000-square-foot emergency
medical facility. Hudson said at this “very
preliminary” stage, the emergency medical
facility would be two to three stories with a
clinic on the first floor and offices above.
“Right now, there are two options on the
table,” Hudson said. “The original request and
the request without the residential.”
However, Hudson said the residential
portion of the annexation request could be
brought back at a later time as a separate,
new request.
“I was really shocked,” Burns said. “I
didn’t think they would consider it.”
Burns also pointed out that this would
still require the construction of a wastewater
treatment plant so that the development would
not affect the town’s problematic sewer
system.
Even this truncated annexation request
faces strong opposition. Judging by the
discussions on a local forum, some of the
strongest opponents to the annexation still
remain opposed.
Hudson is on the town’s planning and zoning
commission meeting agenda for Mar. 22.
