I will always fight for our district and the challenges we face. I will always work for common sense solutions. It isn’t always easy, but it is my commitment to you, and one that I take seriously.
Days before Thanksgiving, I opened my email to see notification of a community meeting for a proposed townhome development where the Severna Park Golf Center is now located. I was shocked, frustrated and downright angry.
There is a long history for this property. So many families in our area love having a neighborhood golf center so close to home. Longtime residents have fond memories there, going back decades. I remember going there as a kid with my parents and brother. My kids attending birthday parties there, and the driving range as they got older. But as the industry has evolved, it has not been easy for this small business golf center to compete with larger, and more technology advanced driving ranges, and the cost to upkeep a putt-putt course is not cheap. I know this because I have communicated with the owner for the entirety of my term in office, as upgrades have been made to ensure the viability of the beloved business. I was thrilled to see technology added to a handful of the driving bays, and so were area golfers. Then all of the bays had ball tracking technology added. Business was picking up again, and you could see its success just by driving by. A liquor license was established for a non-permanent adult beverage trailer, and there were plans to enclose the open patio to add event space, and really improve the putt-putt course, but it was going to take an additional financial investment. With that in mind, the property received a zoning change to R5 during the comprehensive rezoning process in 2024, in order to leverage the property financially for the anticipated improvements and was supported by the Stakeholder advisory council, the Planning Advisory Board and the County Council. There was a path forward for this beloved business to be competitive, long term.
I don’t know the business decisions that happened since 2024. I don’t know why the future of the golf course changed so drastically after all of the work that was put in to sustain it, but I do know the owner has the right to make those changes. I can think of a variety of personal and professional reasons why anyone’s plans may change at any given time. In this case, it doesn’t make it easier to digest, and I can’t help but feel misled and maybe even deceived.
What I do know is that 135 townhouses are now being proposed because of the Housing Attainability Act (HAA), that passed just months after comprehensive rezoning was completed. The HAA requires a certain portion of all new major residential developments to have a certain portion sold or rented at an “affordable” rate based on income, and provides discounts to the developer to help offset the affordable unit requirement. I support affordable housing and homeownership. As the mother of three kids, I want our county to be affordable for them, and their peers – the next generation. But we have to balance the need for affordable housing with the infrastructure challenges faced by existing communities. My job is to read legislation carefully and understand the details that will impact our district. The HAA proposal sounded like the solution to affordability, but I was concerned that the incentives (increased density) would overlook the impacts to an existing area and for that reason, I couldn’t support it. This townhouse proposal is a prime example of what I worried would happen because this property is not the location to achieve affordable housing goals. Our families are burdened with crippling traffic delays because of failing infrastructure that cannot accommodate volume. I have fought for investments to long term solutions, but improving major roadways take time and a lot of money. That is why it is so critically important that we work to solve the affordability challenges we face, by incentivizing affordable housing in locations that can absorb the impacts.
I will not have a seat at the table to approve or deny this development proposal, that responsibility lies solely with the Office of Planning and zoning. However, I will be introducing legislation in January that will greatly reduce the impact of development at this location. As with most legislation, it will take 4 votes to pass and five votes to be veto proof. Your participation in the public hearing process will be important. You can write letters to the entire council, send emails and testify in person. I will do all that I can to affect change to the plans and reduce the scope of the proposed development. I will continue to be your voice.
For information on the legislation and public hearing dates, please contact me at Amanda.fiedler@aacounty.org