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The Calvert County Planning Commission gave unanimous approval to revisions for a plan that will ultimately convert a 43-year-old golf course in the north end of the county into a 51-home subdivision. The panel voted Wednesday, July 18 to grant the revisions to preliminary approval to the subdivision plan for the 222-acre parcel that is currently home to Twin Shields Golf Club in Dunkirk. Preliminary approval for the plan was originally granted in September 2008. The applicants’ agent, R.A. Barrett & Associates, submitted a revised plan earlier this year. The revisions were presented to the planning commission at its May meeting. Several residents who live in the vicinity of the golf course rendered testimony. “Their primary concern was with the elimination of Roarty Road as a public right-of-way, which would result in only one entrance for the site,” stated Department of Community Planning and Building Principal Planner Carolyn Sunderland in a memo to the planning commission. “By removing the first entrance, all of the traffic generation by the new subdivision will have to travel further down Shields Drive to gain access. Of special concern was the potential safety issues relating to construction vehicles that would be using Shields Drive during development of the subdivision. Consequently, the residents requested that if the planning commission approved the revised preliminary plan, a condition be added requiring all commercial/construction vehicles associated with the development of the subdivision be restricted to using Roarty Road.”

“I believe everything has been addressed,” said Department of Community Planning and Building Planner Olivia Vidotto, who briefed the planning commission on the proposal from the Department of Public Works’ Engineering Division to address the residents’ concerns.

The engineering staff recommended that construction of the subdivision, to be known as The Lakes of Twin Shields, be done with construction-related traffic restricted to Roarty Road. The Department of Public Works is also recommending the use of flagging operations for entering and exiting large vehicles, appropriate safety signage, temporary traffic control devices and signs on Route 260, rumble strips on the southbound lane of Shields Drive and incorporation of an 80-foot radius from Roarty Road onto Shields Drive.

“We are in agreement,” said Randy Barrett of R.A. Barrett & Associates. No other comments were offered prior to the commission’s vote.

Aspen Woods Plan Deferred Indefinitely

The case involving developer John Crane’s request for three receiving area lots on Pushaw Station Road in Sunderland has been deferred indefinitely at the applicant’s request. Scott Collinson, an agent for the applicant, stated in a memo to the Department of Community Planning and Building that the Department of Public Works is still finalizing plans to address concerns about safety expressed by several Pushaw Station road residents. County government officials are hoping to find a way to make the entering and exiting of vehicles from the Mt. Hope Compactor Site on Pushaw Station Road safer.

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com