Waldorf:  Tuesday evening, March 14th, the Waldorf Citizens Advisory Committee, Charles County Planning Director David Umling and other members of Charles County Planning & Growth Management met at North Point High School to discuss new development concepts for Waldorf. The concepts were presented by developers Richard Saunders (Slenker Land Development) and Ron Rymer (Lenhart Development Corporation).

Mr. Saunders explained that Slenker had done a survey of local citizens back in 2005 to determine what it was the citizens would most like to have in the community. This was done by rating photographs of existing developments in other areas and within the community. The photos were rated on a scale of 1-5 and with the results Slenker Land Development came up with a concept they thought Waldorf citizens would prefer. Slenker’s concept New Charles would be located off of Billingsley and Rt. 301 in an area adjacent to St. Charles Town Plaza.

New Charles would be a main street style downtown with open public space, shopping and possibly white collar businesses. Integrated into the concept are detached single-family homes, town homes and multi-family homes which the concept refered to as “upscale.” Also included are a waking and biking trail and Kiss and Ride commuter lot. There was no mention, however, as to how the people on the east side of 301 were going to be able to cross safely on foot or bike to the west side.

The site includes 60 acres of wetlands.  Saunders stated that Slenker had discussed how to minimize environmental impact of the development with Conservancy for Charles County and that Slenker had completed an environmental impact study.

The second concept presented by Mr. Rymer (Lenhart Development Corporation) was a simple condominium complex named Hamilton Park which would be located at Hamilton Road and Western Parkway.

Mr. Rymer explained that even though there is a lot of discussion about going vertical, meaning taller buildings in Waldorf, that it isn’t a feasible option at this point for several reasons. His vision includes what he considers an affordable condominium complex, which translates into $250 -350,000 units. Rymer explained that if you build taller than four stories you have to change the structural materials wood to concrete and steel, which doubles the cost of the project. In an effort to keep the complex reasonably affordable and assure that it fits properly into the landscape, he felt four stories was ideal.

Hamilton Park would include a hiker-biker trail, just as the New Charles concept does. As with the New Charles concept there also was no mention of how the hikers and bikers would get safely to the shopping and gathering points on the other side of the main roads.

After both presentations there was a mock Planning Commission Public Hearing during which members of the Planning and Growth Management department questioned Mr. Rymer as though they were concerned citizens. They added a light-hearted comical element to the characters they portrayed and the WCAC members listened dutifully for possible issues that may be faced.

During wrap-up, committee member Diane Rauch attempted to get an explanation from Mr. Saunders as to the diffe