Leonardtown, MD — The St. Mary’s County Planning Commission has approved a concept site plan for the proposed Dollar General Store just outside Leonardtown. The approval was on a 5-2 vote, reflecting the fact that the project was controversial over the two days of hearings before the commission.
The main concern was the location of the proposed 9,100 square-foot store near the Route 5 and 234 intersection. Commission member Susan McNeill, one of the two negative votes, said the intersection is unsafe now and the proposed store will add to the unsafe condition.
The proposed store is next to an existing commercial area and is bounded by Route 234 (Budds Creek Road) and Eddie Nelson Road. Persons heading for the existing businesses from Route 5 make a turn onto Route 234 and then almost immediately have to make a left hand turn across two lanes of traffic. Under the proposal that entrance will be closed to left hand turns with a median and moved north to Eddie Nelson Road.
Commission Vice Chairman Shelby Guazzo lives in Chaptico and says she travels that stretch of road every day and hasn’t seen problems there. But residents who testified during the May 11 commission hearing and then the June 22 hearing continuation disagreed, talking about numerous accidents and difficulty getting out of their driveways, particularly during rush hour.
St. Mary’s County Deputy Director of Public Works and Transportation John Groeger, who testified at the June 22 hearing, submitted a report to the commission that said that all of the intersections in the immediate area operate at an acceptable level of service.
Entrance to the Dollar General will be off Eddie Nelson Road, now a narrow farm lane that will be widened from 18 feet to 32 feet to accommodate delivery trucks. But residents such as Jim Miedzinski, who is a long-time truck driver, disagreed that the turning radius onto the road from Route 234 would be sufficient.
Steve Mcgee, who owns a farm behind the property, said at the June 22 hearing, “It’s not just a Dollar General Issue. It’s a bad intersection issue.”
One traffic issue raised by McNeill was the possibility of rear-end collisions on Route 234 for those making a left turn onto Eddie Nelson Road going into the Dollar General. But traffic consultant Mike Lenhart pointed out there was a right-lane bypass at that intersection to allow collision avoidance. Some speakers said it still could be a problem.
Another issue raised at both hearings was the safety of children using a school bus shelter at the end of Eddie Nelson Road. Several neighbors felt that the added traffic would make it unsafe for the children. But developer’s engineer Ken Crouse of Crouse Engineering observed that the store wouldn’t be opening until 9 a.m. after children had left for school and when they are dropped off in the evening they wouldn’t be using the shelter.
Developer’s attorney Christopher Longmore said his client was willing to work with the school board and Department of Land Use and Growth Management (LUGM), to come up with a solution to the school bus shelter issue, including possibly relocating it. Phil Shire, LUGM director, said he would not administratively approve the final plan until that issue was reviewed by the agencies.
Another issue raised at the May 11 hearing was landscaping along Eddie Nelson Road. The developer presented a revised landscaping plan at the June 22 hearing that seems to address the concerns.
The vote to approve the concept plan was made by long-time member Merl Evans, who noted the intersection issues had to be resolved by State Highway Administration (SHA), and not the developer. He suggested that SHA be pulled into the discussion to come up with a solution.
Commission Chairman Howard Thompson said he would write a letter to SHA asking for their cooperation, which the commission has found hard to achieve in the past. Thompson told the developer’s representatives the problems raised in the hearings were “through no fault of you all. It’s the intersection.”
Commission member Hal Willard said speeding through the intersection was the problem and suggested speed bumps as a possible solution. Guazzo said that she slows down and activates caution lights when going through the intersection.
At the request of Thompson, Groeger said he would attempt to make sure that SHA officials are aware of the concerns expressed during testimony at the hearings, including providing a video tape of the proceedings.
In addition to McNeill, commission member Patricia Robrecht also voted against the concept plan.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com
