St. Mary’s County Government has issued a stop-work order for a 111-unit townhouse project in Wildewood. The order was issued last week in a letter from Department of Public Works and Transportation Director George Erichsen to Gordon Thomas, Jr. of Wildewood Residential, LLC, developer of the Magnolia Park project off Wildewood Parkway in California.
The property was posted with a stop-work order on Friday to coincide with the letter and on Tuesday it appeared that the grading work for the project had ceased.
According to the letter, there is an inconsistency between the wetlands on the property as delineated on the grading permit for the project (as determined by the developer) and the actual delineation of the wetlands by the Army Corps of Engineers on official wetlands maps.
Erichsen wrote: “Please coordinate what we hope will be a simple clarification and/or plan modification directly with Mr. John Groeger, our Deputy Director, so that we can streamline the resolution of this issue and help you maintain your original planned construction schedule as close as possible.”
St. Mary’s County Commissioner President Francis “Jack” Russell (D) announced the stop-work order at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting. He noted concerns from some residents of the planned Wildewood community about recent construction activities there. Russell said the commissioners’ May public forum will be held at Evergreen Elementary School so that residents can further relay their concerns.
Russell noted that most of the issues raised at a previous public forum from the Wildewood community were issues for the state or federal government. But Russell said the commissioners would continue to listen to the concerns and do whatever they can.
