By Guy Leonard, St. Mary's County Times
HOLLYWOOD, Md.—The county planning commission approved a proposal Aug. 24 to rezone a little less than 20 acres in the area of Mervell Dean Road from limited residential use to town center mixed use and become part of the overall town center land currently there.
The land on Greenery Lane that the commission approved for rezoning was once an old amusement center that has long been defunct; it had earlier been approved for about 100 town homes as part of a senior community.
A concept to have a mix between townhouses and commercial properties could be up for review by the commission after their decision Monday, but the developers have not made an official submission to the planning commission.
The owners of the property, Earley Properties LLC, applied for the rezoning due to the fact that the character of the neighborhood has changed and also because the county made a mistake, the owners and developing agents argued.
The property lies in the Hollywood Town Center.
The property was the subject of a public hearing on the proposed zoning change but there were no residents signed up to speak.
The applicants argued that the expansion of the nearby airport, road improvements, the addition of a traffic signal and the expansion of the industrial park and office park nearby in Wildewood made for significant changes in the overall town center neighborhood among others.
“There’s many things we think that have happened in recent years that would warrant a change,” said Laura Clarke to Clarke Consulting, which helped to seek the zoning change for their client.
“It’s much less about mistakes made,” commission member Merl Evans said. “Certainly the neighborhood has changed.
“I think this would be a reasonable change.”