Fort Meade Expansion Ignites Fears
5,400 New Workers Will Clog Roads and Crowd Schools, Residents Say

By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 25, 2006

When the Pentagon announced a long-term plan to reorganize the nation's military bases, Fort Meade became one of the region's big winners.

Now, more than a year later, residents near the Anne Arundel County base fear that they might turn out to be the big losers, as developers rush to accommodate an estimated 5,400 additional workers coming to the base.

Residents say the influx of homes and office buildings will put more cars on clogged roads, bring more students to crowded schools and continue to erode the close-knit atmosphere that drew them to the area.

"We're in gridlock now in traffic. We have infrastructure problems with water and sewer. . . . We're worried about the schools," said Ray Smallwood, president of the Maryland City Civic Association. "What we're losing is our resources -- our way of life. We're losing everything."

Last month, an Annapolis developer showed community leaders the plan for Arundel Gateway, which would involve construction of about 1,600 homes, as well as retail establishments, on a 300-acre tract near the intersection of Route 198 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Fort Meade also recently held a public meeting to outline its plan to lease 540 acres to developers who will construct office buildings to support the base's growth.

Those projects would come on top of the 5,000 housing units that county officials say are in the development pipeline for a region that was booming even before the base closing commission announced its decision.

"Every day, it's something new," Smallwood said. "If somebody finds a square foot of land, it's build, build, build."

Like Fort Belvoir in southern Fairfax County, which could pick up more than 22,000 jobs in the base closing process, Fort Meade would draw workers from various military installations closer to Washington. Defense contractors and support businesses are expected to follow.

State transportation planners have begun looking at extending Metro's Green Line north from Greenbelt and widening or improving key arteries such as Baltimore-Washington Parkway and routes 198 and 175. School planners in Anne Arundel and Howard counties are contemplating several new schools.

And politicians running for office this year have seized on development around Fort Meade. A proposal that would have allowed Arundel Gateway to build on property zoned for industrial use was withdrawn from the County Council, leaving the matter to be decided by council members elected in November.

Both candidates vying to replace County Executive Janet S. Owens (D) put growth around Fort Meade at the top of their list of priorities.

"Managing the growth is the central issue in this county," said Del. John R. Leopold, the Republican candidate. "It's going to take a herculean effort to put the county on an even keel" in the face of development, he said. Leopold also said he would update the county's land use plan immediately and devise a more specific capital projects plan to improve infrastructure.

Sheriff George F. Johnson IV, the Democratic candidate for county executive, is less critical of the current administration. "It's going to be absolutely paramount that we continue with what's already in place," he said. "We definitely have to be prepared and have our finger on the pulse of every issue."

County officials say they have been planning for growth at the base, which is in the western part of Anne Arundel, near Howard. The county's general development plan, adopted in 1997, projected that most of Anne Arundel's 55,000 new jobs over a 25-year period would center in the western part of the county near Fort Meade, the National Security Agency and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Joe Rutter, the county's planning and zoning officer, said the county's readiness for the new jobs at Fort Meade was a selling point for Defense Department officials deciding the base realignment and closure plan, known as BRAC.

Rutter disputed the notion that the region is suddenly being hit with a wave of new development. "It's more that the projects that were in the pipeline are moving more aggressively toward construction," he said.

Residents in Maryland City, just west of Fort Meade, scoff at the notion that the infrastructure is ready for the influx of workers. Their predominant source of concern is the condition of Route 198, which stretches through Montgomery County and Laurel and narrows from six lanes to two near Fort Meade.

Traffic on the narrowest stretch, just east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, approaching the base, has more than doubled over the past 35 years, according to the State Highway Administration.

And that is precisely the area, near the Patuxent Research Refuge, where Arundel Gateway would be built.

"I'm 68 years old," said Adele Haas of Maryland City. "I know that development's going to come. Let's make sure the infrastructure's ready."

John Stamato, president of Annapolis-based Ribera Development, the firm behind Arundel Gateway, said he and other developers will either directly or through payment of impact fees help improve roads, water and other needs in the area. His meeting with community leaders is a reflection of his company's efforts to work with residents, he said.

In addition to the townhouses and condominium units designed for new workers at Fort Meade, he said, Arundel Gateway would include the type of upscale shops, stores and restaurants that residents say the area lacks.

"The surrounding community is very aware of what's happening with BRAC and the jobs coming there," he said. "On this property, we're trying to meet the needs of what's coming with BRAC."

Some residents are not so sure, particularly as they hear about more projects planned for their community.

"This is the start of it," Haas said. "If there's any piece of green, then you know the developer's going to be requesting that land."