The state government is shopping for a tenant to develop 559 acres of the former Crownsville Hospital Center, dashing the hopes of county officials who wanted control of the site and stirring the concerns of neighbors that the community's landscape will be drastically altered.
Interested developers have until June 30 to respond to a request sent out by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which has controlled the property since the state-run psychiatric hospital closed in 2004.
State officials would not name any companies that have expressed interest in the site, which contains 14 historic structures among its 66 buildings but requires a multimillion-dollar environmental cleanup.
The expensive removal of asbestos contamination, lead paint and buried medical waste has been a sticking point for Anne Arundel officials who had lobbied the state for a free transfer of the land to the county.
"We were hopeful earlier that the state would allow the county to utilize this property. Now the state is obviously moving in a different direction," said County Executive John R. Leopold. "We would hope that the state would still respect the importance of listening to the voices of the community going forward."
Leopold has made property preservation a hallmark of his administration. Last year, he led efforts to preserve the 857-acre former Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills, spent $6.1 million to buy and preserve land in Lothian where a shopping center anchored by a Target store was planned, and secured 547 forested acres on the eastern half of the former hospital grounds for parkland.
Leopold said the county had been considering the remainder of the Crownsville property for a variety of uses, ranging from affordable housing to a home for war veterans.
The site is currently zoned "Rural Agricultural," meaning only one house can be built for every 20 acres of property. A change in the regulations would require approval by the county.
"I would anticipate whoever gets the contract having to work with the county planning and zoning office to get this done," said County Councilman Jamie Benoit.
The state has agreed to follow the county's zoning requirements even if it retains the property for official use, though the state is not subject to county zoning laws, said Alan R. Friedman, Leopold's government relations director.
