HOLLYWOOD, Md. (Jan. 7, 2016)—The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County unanimously approved the rezoning of a nearly 18 acre parcel of land in the Hollywood Town Center from limited residential to a mixed used designation that will allow for a combination of residential and commercial development in the site that once played host to a now-defunct amusement center.
The land on Greenery Lane and Mervell Dean Road owned by Earley Properties LLC was once part of a plan to build senior housing that has since fallen by the wayside, but commissioners were enthusiastic about the possibilities the rezoning might bring.
The rezoning was approved with almost no discussion at Tuesday’s meeting but commissioners acknowledged that 11 property owners had signed a petition in support of the rezoning which would likely help enliven the commercial feel of that area of the Hollywood Town Center.
The applicants for the rezoning back in August had argued that the parcel was being held back from its highest and best use given that the surrounding community had changed so much.
They argued that with the advent of the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, technology-based businesses like Smartronix and the general increase in amenities close by that the time was right for a zoning change.
The approval comes at a time when Hollywood appears to be a new center for growth both commercial and residential.
Locally-based developers from Dean LLC are proposing a major development at the intersection of Sotterley Road and Route 235 on 20 acres of disused farm land that would make way for retail and restaurant type shops including a pharmacy, filling station and convenience store and perhaps even a car dealership on one of the outlying phases of the property’s build out.
That project has come under heavier scrutiny, though, since concerns over the volume of traffic the plan would generate at a troubled intersection were highlighted by a serious crash there involving multiple serious injuries.
Closer to the property on Mervell Dean Road a 48-lot residential subdivision is being proposed with plans for a dense cluster of single family homes on Sandy Bottom Road.
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