Developer, residents work together on new homes plan

by Ayesha Ahmad
Staff Writer

A local developer and Laurel residents are working together to determine the course of a new homes development in Montpelier despite concerns about its impact on schools and roads.

Berman Enterprises Inc., a Rockville-based developer with deep roots in Laurel, is planning to develop a 30-acre plot of land as part of the Montpelier Hills community off Muirkirk Road.

The land is part of the original 1986 Montpelier Hill Comprehensive Design Plan, which was approved at the time for up to 1,000 total residential units. There are already 365 homes, and county zoning changes have limited the additional number of units that can be built to 300.

After feedback from the community, Berman Enterprises is now considering building about 250 garage townhouses instead of the nearly 700 multifamily units originally planned.

But there are still many kinks to work out, residents caution. Many are concerned about the impact on the neighborhood's Montpelier Elementary School ­ at a shifting enrollment of 700, it is already near the building's capacity for 713 pupils, said Principal Lois Hewitt.

"Depending on where our enrollment stands when families start to move in there, it jmay or may not have a negative effect on us," she said.

Resident Gary Stone voiced concern about preserving Montpelier Elementary as a neighborhood school for all the community's residents, with redrawn boundary lines being a possible solution to overcrowding.

"More broadly... how do we plan for adequate public facilities such as police, fire, and emergency medical services?" he said.

The impact on roads is also a still-unanswered question ­ the community has been concerned about speeding and traffic on Muirkirk Road for years, and a crossing guard by the school was struck by a car just last month.

"It's already being used as a cut-through," said resident Dan Felton. "I don't know what [the development] will do."

The county considers Muirkirk as a two-lane collector roadway, which can handle a maximum daily average of 15,000 cars, said Delphine Shepard, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works and Transportation.

An August 2004 study taken just west of Route 197 indicated an average of 15,433 cars, although Shepard cautioned that this was not representative of all of Muirkirk Road.

But developer Brian Berman said because the project was initially approved, impacts and all, for a much higher density, the impact of the 250-unit project on the school and traffic will be well under any limits.

"We are very, very community conscious," said developer Brian Berman. "We're trying to work together to come to something that everyone can be proud of."

Berman also has to pay the county school system $3 million or $12,000 per housing unit in fees.

Residents say the company has been responsive to their concerns about density and traffic impact, and is working with them to address those concerns.

"Change sometimes has to come, and sometimes change doesn't have to come," said Karen Thomas, vice president of the Montpelier Hills Homeowners Association. "We're trying to find the best grounds for the community in all of that."

Berman is part of the third generation of Bermans who have been developing commercial and residential projects in the area for more than 50 years. The company approached Montpelier Hills in November with its original plans and have since been working out the details in discussions.

Felton and Stone said the community's concerns would have to be addressed as they came up. Felton added he hoped residents would continue to remain involved in the process.

"I don't want community members to think that they don't have a say," he said. "The more people can get involved... the better."