New Housing Proposal Could Cause
Pax River NAS to Suffer Same Fate as Norfolk Air Base
Pax River NAS from the wing camera of a Bud Light stunt plane at the annual Air Show at Pax. 


ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN — The Navy has expressed its anxiety over a Glazed Pine Mixed Use Center on Hermanville Road because of how the proposed development could affect the essential mission of the Naval Air Station.
The issue came up at a pre-application meeting of the planning commission meeting on the proposed Gazed Pine PUD Monday evening.
“The navy’s anxiety has to be addressed,” said planning commission member, Susan McNeill.
NAS Oceana at Norfolk has been affected by the last round of BRAC closings with the base set to close in the next few years due to unrestricted development near the air station.
The Navy’s concern about Pax River NAS was conveyed through a letter to the Planning Commission sent by LeRoy Mattingly of the NAS’s Air Installation Compatibility Use Zone.
“What is the effect of traffic for Route 235 and Hermanville Road for such a large magnitude of people?” Mattingly asked.
Developer Guy Curley, of the Liberty Home Builders, has proposed 1,100 residential units, including single family and multifamily home homes and 12,00,000 square foot of office space, retail space and a community center on the 208.6 acres.
Developments of this magnitude do encroach upon the Naval Air Station, even though they meet the intention of the County zoning ordinance, Mattingly said. He said huge development projects have negatively impacted on the NAS operational capability.
Mattingly through a letter to Bob Bowles of the Land Use department asked for a detailed description of the types of buildings.
“Please continue to remain vigilant of these types of developments,” Mattingly urged.
Mattingly pointed out the area is located in the aircraft traffic pattern to one of the busiest runways at PAX and wanted to know how that would effect the folks who will be living or working under that pattern.
Curley, however, told ST. MARY’S TODAY this would not deter him from going ahead with the project and seek an amendment to the Comprehensive Use Plan to PUD-X.
“The entire area between Great Mills and Hermanville Road is in either APZ 1 or APZ 2,” Curly said.
Curly proposed that Glazed Pines would be a live, work, play and die community, with offices and homes abutting each other.
But the navy seemed concerned about the last element of the equation, that is die.
Mattingly said though the housing units are located outside of the AICUZ boundary, noise will be generated from the passing over of aircraft. “Therefore, additional sound attenuation should be considered,” Mattingly said.
Curly’s business associate project engineer John Norris of N.G&O said the entire Cedar Cove was in the accident prone zone. But Senior Planner Jeffrey Jackman said this was not true and Norris corrected himself and said a portion of Cedar Cove was in the accident prone zone.
Curly said the proposed PUD was allowed by the zoning ordinance.
According to the staff report the underlying zoning is Residential Low-Density District or RL, and Office Business Park or OBP.
“Approximately 109.9 acres of APZ-2 overlay the OBP and approximately 10.3 acres of APZ-2 overlay the RL,” a background report on the project said. The background report said open space and recreational space requirements must be accomplished.
Curly has prepared a concept plan and forwarded it through the County’s Technical Evaluation Committee process.
Currently a Water and Sewer Category Change is being requested through the county, Norris said.
In Norris’s opinion, existing infrastructure in the vicinity of the proposed community has sufficient capacity to accommodate the needs of the development, but he conceded that an additional water supply well and water storage tower will be necessary.
Norris concurred with the county staff and navy’s view that more than 120 acres of the property, which he called a “portion”, lies within the Accident Potential Zone 2 (APZ-2) on the Air Installation Compatibility Use Zone (AICUZ).
“He knows he’s talking dollars,” Norris said of Curly.
The intent of the AICUZ is to protect the public health, safety and welfare, while protecting the operational capability of the Naval Air Station, Mattingly’s letter said.
Chairman Joe St. Clair assured anxiety-ridden black residents of Hermanville Road the owner of the project would pay for the public facilities like water and sewer from his pocket.
Curly and St. Clair jointly helped in the hurricane relief efforts for Biloxi, Mississippi, last year. Curly had donated $10,000 cash.
A rezoning correction issue was also taken up by the planning commission on a property belonging to lawyer Phil Dorsey.
Mary Broadhurst, a local resident, expressed concern over the “correction of mistake” in the zoning map fix for the property called Chesapeake Industrial Park. Drawing from her past experience, Broadhurst said she suspects foul play whenever words like correction of mistake surfaces in land use documents.
Jackman, however, assured Broadhurst it was purely a labeling error and nothing shady is involved in this instance. Dorsey had authorized the County to represent him in the matter.