A group of residents living adjacent to a new 52-acre development of Navy rental housing in Wildewood protested Monday night at the St. Mary’s Planning Commission meeting.

Homeowners from St. Andrews Lane and St. Andrews Church Road flooded the Commission meeting room to complain about the Challenger Estates project underway in Wildewood, and the fact it will be visible from their backyards.

Residents raised concerns about the planned 50-foot setback between the construction and their homes, and the layout of the site calls for a “service road” to be constructed within the buffer only 20 feet from several neighboring homes.

 

Land Use Director Denis Canavan

— The Bay Net photo by Sean Rice

A developer representative stated, and county Land Use Officials confirmed, that the residents have little recourse because all Wildewood plans have been properly prepared and meet or exceed all county requirements.

Several residents rejected the fact that Wildewood developers are executing plans in accordance with legal procedure, and called out muffled jeers.

One woman in the front row shook both fists at Land Use Director Denis Canavan, pointed and screamed: “You got to come to my back yard mister.”

The stated Wildewood “planned unit development” (PUD) plans, adopted in 1978 and updated in 1991, call for a minimum 50-foot vegetative buffer around the perimeter of the property. The developers are executing options that allow a road to be built in the buffer as long as a 20-foot vegetative buffer is retained along with construction of a berm to block the clear view of the property.

“It has all agency approvals” including environmental plans, Mike Wettengel said, representing Duball, the company that owns Wildewood.

Challenger Estates will feature 125 mixed-use units, ranging from single family homes to triplexes, and will be occupied by dues-paying members of the Wildewood community.

“It’s a public-private joint venture,” using congressional money, Wettengel said.

Wildewood as a whole was approved for 3,792 dwelling units, and 1,531 have been built so far, with another 739 all approved and ready to build.

It was also pointed out that Wildewood already exceeds the open space requirements in the PUD document, of 444.9 acres. So far, 734 acres are preserved in open space in the development.

“It’s also an opportunity for the community to integrate,” Wettengel said of the plan to start diversifying the types of dwelling units in Wildewood.

“The PUD is purposely designed to respond to market changes,” he said. “My children can’t afford to build in Wildewood if they have to pay $500,000 for a 1/3 acre wooded lot.”

Residents also complained about the fact that it’s Navy housing, and rental u