The St. Mary's County commissioners agreed this week to support an affordable housing development along Willows Road in the Lexington Park area, a project being led by the Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee Inc.
The development, called Hunting Creek, would include 100 units -- 30 in duplexes and 70 townhouses -- on 20 acres that are part of a larger tract donated by Facchina Construction of La Plata.
"There's need all over," said Swynice M. Hawkins , acting president of the Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee. Residents "just can't afford the market rate that we have now."
By Sept. 6, the organization and Osprey Property Companies, an Annapolis-based developer, plan to apply for a federal tax credit for the project, Hawkins said. The Board of County Commissioners' support of the project was expected to help that petition.
"This [has] a very good chance to be awarded tax credits given where we stand," said Corbin Anderson of Osprey.
Located about a mile from Willows Road's intersection with Route 5, the development is targeted to serve people who earn from 30 percent to 60 percent of the county's median income, Anderson said. The rents are expected to range from $300 to $500 a month, Hawkins said.
The developers expect construction to begin in December 2006, with units ready to be occupied a year later. The development will become home to some of the people relocated from the soon-to-be-demolished Lexington Manor community near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
Last year, the Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee completed Brawners Estates, an affordable housing complex of 111 single-family units in Bryans Road in Charles County. In Calvert County, the group is working on a 150-unit Prince Frederick complex called Yardley Hills. Hunting Creek would be the group's largest project in St. Mary's.
"We're very pleased that that's moving forward," said Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D-Leonardtown). "It's something that's sorely needed in the community."
A Matter of Trust
As he seeks to visit all 157 of Maryland's incorporated towns and cities, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) often is joined by Cabinet secretaries who offer suggestions for enlisting the state's help in areas such as transportation or housing.
Department of Planning Secretary Audrey Scott even has a catchy slogan for the local government leaders she meets: "We're from the government, and we're here to help you," Scott told La Plata town officials during Steele's visit Tuesday.
