October 25, 2009|By Larry Carson | Larry Carson,larry.carson@baltsun.com
The Carrolls of Doughoregan Manor may hear the call of family history in crafting plans for 325 new homes on an eastern portion of their historic property, but their more recent neighbors are more attuned to the sounds of honking auto horns and crunched fenders.
At a required community information meeting Wednesday night at the Ellicott City Senior Center, residents along Frederick Road complained that the two entrances for the new development planned along that designated scenic road would worsen already severe congestion.
The plan to develop about 186 acres of nearly 300-year-old Doughoregan in order to preserve the rest of the 892-acre estate should be submitted to Howard County officials by late next week, said Joseph Rutter, the former county planning director and now private consultant who represented the Carroll family at the meeting. He explained the project and answered questions, but the most persistent criticism involved traffic worries.
"It's like a death trap trying to get out of there," complained Carol Harriday, 45, who lives on Robin Lynn Drive, just west of the proposed entrances. "We have a problem getting out of our driveway now," she said. She's pushing for the entrance to be farther west and use Manor Lane.
Kellie Morstein, who lives with her husband just across Frederick Road from the manor property, was equally adamant.
"This is the sixth development in seven years we've been there," she said. "That's a lot of traffic. We don't want it."
Rutter sympathized but said much of the problem is caused by the congestion on Interstate 70 in the area, which needs to be widened. To avoid that daily peak hour back-up, he said, drivers are using U.S. 40 and Frederick Road. The 3,000 daily trips expected when the project is complete in about 15 years are far less than would have come from the earlier proposal for an Erickson retirement community on the same land, Rutter said.
"Manor Lane is not a good location for access," he added, noting it is west of the tract.
Rutter said that the famously private Carrolls, descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, are trying to raise enough money to restore and preserve more than 700 acres of the historic estate, including the manor house and other buildings, by clustering development on the eastern edge of their remaining property. With the failure of the plan by Erickson, which sought bankruptcy protection this month, the new 2,500- to 3,000-square-foot detached homes are the next best choice.
The family's plan is to place 500 acres in the county's Agricultural Preservation Program, joining 75 acres already preserved. The family wants to donate 34 acres to expand ball fields at nearby Kiwanis-Wallas Park. That would leave 94 acres surrounding the big manor house and other historic and farm structures, and the development land. Rutter said the 325 homes proposed are far fewer than the maximum zoning would allow.
The only alternative, he said, if the family can't get county approval for water and sewer service and a zoning change, is to allow up to 400 homes on larger lots using wells and septic systems throughout the property, which would damage its historic ambience.
"It kind of destroys the character of the property," Rutter told the crowd of more than 50 people. "It's a terrible option, but it's the option that's out there."
He brought a map showing that Doughoregan is "rather unique" in that several sewer lines already run under the land proposed for development, despite the fact that the land is just west of where public water and sewer service ends. Water lines are nearby on Frederick Road.
Rutter said that to enable the Carroll project to hook up to the sewers, the County Council must amend the General Plan for water and sewer, and the council members, serving as the zoning board, must then also approve a zoning change. In addition, he said, the family is proposing a written contract called a Development Rights and Responsibilities Agreement with the county allowed under state law that would bind both parties to the entire preservation-development package.
Rutter also said the project, when complete, might produce about 170 students for grades kindergarten through 12, but only one elementary school student for every three homes. He said if the plans are approved, perhaps 30 homes a year would be built, depending on market conditions.
The county is planning to build a new elementary school in the area as nearby Turf Valley also grows by more than 1,300 planned homes.
The residents' focus remained mainly on traffic, however.
"Folly Quarter Road has become extremely congested," especially at the Frederick Road intersection on Doughoregan's western side, noted Peter Beck, who lives nearby.
Tom Lockard, a development reviewer for Prince George's County who lives near Frederick Road, wondered why an entrance to Doughoregan couldn't come via Burnside Drive, which dead-ends at the property just west of Centennial Lane. That would take traffic off Frederick Road.
But residents of Ridge Lake and Chateau Ridge near Burnside vehemently oppose even an emergency entrance to the development near them, and Rutter said he agrees.
Others pointed to what they said was a lack of pedestrian walkways or other community features.
"It's classic suburban sprawl," said Dick Boulton, who also lamented that the estate is closed to the public.
"This is a national treasure and a piece of our heritage. They've got to open it up," he said.
