LEONARDTOWN, Md. – During the St. Mary’s County Board of Appeals meeting on Dec. 9, they narrowly denied the appealed concept plan for a Dollar General in Oakville. Even though this time around the plan received more support, it still was not enough to make it happen.
Originally, Developer PennTex Ventures LLC went to the planning commission where it was rejected unanimously on Aug. 9. Then, they presented the plan to the Appeals Board where it was denied with a 3-2 vote on Dec. 9.
But, the rejection of the plans comes as a surprise to the developers since it supposedly meets all the requirements, according to their attorney Chris Longmore. The attorney suggested the denial came on personal preference rather than objectivity.
“The only way you can deny this is to say subjectively, you don’t like it,” Longmore said.
The board said they rejected the plan because of the possible traffic issues that the storm could cause. Since a Dollar General truck is approximately 53-feet-long while the access point would have been North Sandgate Road, deliveries were expected to worsen traffic. However, there is no study on that to say so.
“I use that road every day,” Board Member Miedzinksi said. “I see accidents there all the time. I still can’t believe after they turned them down, they still didn’t do a traffic study.”
For this meeting, the developer suggested a 9,100-square-foot building instead of the 10,640-square-foot building for Dollar General. Although that might have slightly helped their plan, developers must continue to make adjustments if they ever want to get this store up and running.
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