[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6454902,"mediaKeyId","5857790-9ae2c74936546e14e9269033e7efd4af","parentId",5857790,"title","Developers present plan for private sports complex; Mount Airy planning commission continues annexation review","audioSeconds",4765,"startMs",3233000,"endMs",7998000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5857790-9ae2c74936546e14e9269033e7efd4af&start=3233&end=7998","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5857790-9ae2c74936546e14e9269033e7efd4af/thumbnail_3233000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6454902/Maryland/Developers-present-plan-for-private-sports-complex-Mount-Airy-planning-commission-continues-annexation-review","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6454902-bc8f702d3f9488e8aba8f8c0a69330cb/orig.mp4?Expires=1770453175&Signature=ammBXVKtrkGK-KfGLpiyGP5Gr6dw1FcAiKRU45s3IJFyQ4wwCuEJDxaNUOsVhcAQ2l0quqeCImDrQ4NqZVemHkas05GoLhfddCSuogPw6~qJeRqgf~iWQiXtvrcG9ZbHND6MAYl4GcIJFwFuNr-MOg0n66dzv3pO7lREQXoVkaoZ-AQUzMzRW1iv-O8OJMn8ob3q9yU-87IjsB55qxLBtTYQh2ycBx~zcSehPySGiu9HcE8rQsaTCg7GHmRQL5DYcGcSKlIBfH8FhnKH5Hv59PmmHhaq24jN85KAjYeF5lUzrQijG~NWGfPQvFZqZMJpV21IXMV8ehRcCbnf8i1WPA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Mount Airy Town, MD","date","2025-09-30T15:22:10Z","article","Developers proposing a private athletic complex on the Warfield property told the Mount Airy Planning Commission on Sept. 29 that annexation into the town is necessary to obtain town sewer and to build an 8-field complex they say would address local field shortages and support local businesses.

Tim Park and Brian McKenna, the project principals and operators of Elite Baseball Maryland LLC, said the proposal would include four full 90-foot (high-school) diamonds, two artificial-turf youth diamonds, and two grass multipurpose fields, plus courts, playgrounds, pathways and a small indoor training facility. Park said the complex is intended to serve local athletes and families as well as regional tournaments. \"Our goal is simple. We wanna show what this athletic complex can mean for Mount Airy,\" Park told the commission.

The petitioners asked the commission to recommend annexation and R-1 zoning so the project could pursue town water and sewer rather than an on-site septic layout the developers said would sharply limit field layout and restroom capacity. Attorney Andrew Bowersox (presenting for the petitioners) told the commission the parcel\u000027s septic location and grading would make a large private facility impractical without sewer service.

Speakers who addressed the commission during earlier public comment raised worries about water supply, traffic and weekend congestion. Troy Shekels and Ted Nettles, both non-residents who said they live adjacent to or near the parcel, cited capacity of nearby wells and cut-through traffic on Waterville Road. Mount Airy resident Mara Shell Payne Gassaway said water reliability in the town was already a concern.

The petitioners presented supporting studies and comparisons. They cited a Patriot Park North (Fairfax County) economic-impact summary showing direct visitor spending of about $4.4 million in 2023 and $5.9 million in 2024 as an example of the regional tournament-economic model. The developers also provided water-use comparisons, saying managers of several regional multi-field parks reported peak three-month water use totals that are lower than the estimated water use for a seven-house residential subdivision on the same land; in the petitioners\u000027 materials they concluded a sports complex could use less potable water than certain residential buildouts.

Traffic was a central concern during the commission\u000027s discussion. Lennar Traffic Consulting presented a traffic analysis that the petitioners said used accepted Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip-generation rates. The study focused on five intersections: Waterville Road at MD-27 (Twin Arch area), Waterville at Butler, the proposed site access, Waterville at Runkles, and Waterville at West Waterville. The consultant reported the site would generate about 131 vehicle trips during the busiest weekday evening hour and about 300 trips in the peak Saturday hour (in/out combined). Consultant Nick Triban told the commission the existing roadway and the modeled volumes met county and state standards under their methodologies; under Mount Airy\u000027s stricter level-of-service methodology the MD-27/Waterville intersection would operate at the commission\u000027s adequacy threshold but was modeled as acceptable.

Commissioners and residents raised other topics: potential noise and light spillover, field buffering and layout (petitioners said fields would be sited toward the property interior and separated from lot lines), emergency-service impacts (petitioners provided county examples showing a low incidence rate of EMS/fire responses at comparable complexes), and open-space and park-credit questions (petitioners argued a private athletic complex does not create the same residential park demand the town\u000027s ordinances address and said they would preserve 25 to 33 percent of the parcel as undeveloped open space). Petitioners also proposed operating rules intended to limit weekday-morning conflict with school travel (they proposed no site activity during school morning peak hours and suggested ending lights and amplified sound by 10 p.m. when fields are in use).

The planning commission did not vote on annexation. Chair and commissioners agreed to absorb the presentation and the Q&A, fold the petitioners\u000027 responses into the commission\u000027s annexation-criteria worksheet, and continue the matter at a future meeting. The chair said the commission may open that future session to public comment after commissioners have had time to evaluate the petitioners' materials. Town staff and the petitioners said they would remain available to answer follow-up technical questions (water, traffic and emergency-service details were the most frequently requested clarifications).

The petitioners said they would welcome town guidance on detailed site-plan matters should annexation proceed. The commission set no timetable for a recommendation; a separate statute gives the commission 120 days to recommend for council consideration but the chair said the commission may request an extension from the council if more time is needed.

No formal action on annexation was recorded at the Sept. 29 meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Mount Airy Planning Commission Meeting 9-29-2025","oneSentenceSummary","Prospective buyers of the Warfield property seeking annexation to Mount Airy presented Sept. 29 a plan for an eight-field athletic complex designed to serve local teams and regional tournaments; commissioners pressed the group on traffic, water, noise, lighting and open-space implications and agreed to continue review at a future meeting.","taxTitle","Mount Airy, Carroll County, Maryland","taxId",72996,"location","Maryland","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6454907,"Mount Airy planning commission sends county draft of water resources element to state for 60-day review",1160,1512000,2672000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5857790-9ae2c74936546e14e9269033e7efd4af&start=1512&end=2672","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5857790-9ae2c74936546e14e9269033e7efd4af/thumbnail_1512000.jpg","/articles/6454907/Maryland/Mount-Airy-planning-commission-sends-county-draft-of-water-resources-element-to-state-for-60-day-review","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6454907-077f4c715fa9dc4e2748e1ffc7156ac5/orig.mp4?Expires=1770453175&Signature=mzrhJS2iwY-86G58pLWlEUevhwAiq0iYJ5vVs2ATxI3y5ylI7X8-jqeUPh3e1SZpnEPlUV3xXU4qlY2t1cysG620WnGKtM9dvYaj9tmtx62LHYn0xOzbCxnDjXDcVLFLVkXDCJuTvnbx29zop~DzkMJGxMLMEKHAicGlQ63LVodMJjdZIEno2ZPSDT9ciEdiamXU7Np56UqSZdk3Y0QxTfm3iJDoLD2452NF1Y7UE6nLnO316J5vIo~OKibaFHH0TmDKn8cKqHdrmjwSclBbI2TdYdfToFGWdON5Xueb7tQ1Ua35YNjfZJFTgLEt-VyDRQhPztJjois7vMvUBQP-kg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Mount Airy Planning Commission voted unanimously Sept. 29 to forward Carroll County\u000027s draft Water Resources Element to state agencies for the statutorily required 60-day review, the commission confirmed after a presentation by Carroll County staff.

Carroll County planner Brenda Denny told the commission the Water Resources Element, first adopted in 2010, is an element of local master plans intended to ensure jurisdictions consider the availability and adequacy of public water, wastewater and stormwater when planning for future growth. \"The purpose of doing the water resources element was to make sure that jurisdictions were considering the availability and adequacy of public water and wastewater and also, now stormwater, in considering, your future plans for growth and development,\" Denny said.

The countywide draft treats a small number of town-specific items as Mount Airy sections appended to the broader document. Denny summarized the county's methodology and the document\u000027s main findings for Mount Airy: the plan applies a conservative approach that factors in drought contingencies and the potential loss of a highest-producing well; using that method Mount Airy is rated in a \"yellow\" category, meaning the town does not meet all long-term needs under worst-case assumptions but can likely overcome those constraints by measures such as increased appropriations of current sources, development of additional sources, or targeted improvements.

Denny noted items listed as possible actions for Mount Airy, and which the town could pursue voluntarily, include: connecting the Twin Arch mobile home park to town water, planning for PFAS treatment and other emerging-contaminant responses, pursuing water reuse for high-use commercial users, and prioritizing infiltration/inflow (I&I) reduction to gain wastewater capacity. On stormwater she said Mount Airy and the county are co-permittees on the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit and already have programs to address existing impervious-area treatment and TMDL compliance, so stormwater is not, by itself, identified as a limit to future growth.

Commissioners pressed for clarity on the county\u000027s assumptions and whether the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would approve increased appropriations of existing wells; Denny and town staff repeatedly said MDE decisions cannot be guaranteed and would depend on engineering and regulatory review. Town Water & Sewer Commission chair John Swanson and the town engineers told the commission they had reviewed the draft and were comfortable with sending it out for state review.

Commissioner Hadley moved to forward the draft Water Resources Element to state agencies for the 60-day review and comment period; Commissioner Beinecke seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps in the process, as Denny described, include the concurrent 60-day review by state agencies and a county-hosted public information period and joint public hearing of the nine planning commissions that participated in the countywide document. State and public comments may prompt revisions; each municipal planning commission will then make a recommendation to its elected council, and state law now requires elected officials to hold a public hearing before adopting an element. Denny told the commission the draft is expected to be revised further before final adoption and that municipalities should continue to update numbers periodically.

Commissioners asked staff to circulate the Mount Airy section of the draft and to coordinate follow-up questions. The commission\u000027s vote to forward the document begins the state review timetable; the Planning Commission did not adopt the document for final use but approved sending the draft for comment and state review.","The Mount Airy Planning Commission voted unanimously Sept. 29 to send the county\u000027s draft Water Resources Element to the Maryland Department of the Environment for the required 60-day interagency review, after a presentation by Carroll County staff on local water, wastewater, stormwater and emerging-contaminant planning.","actionData","errors"]

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Developers present plan for private sports complex; Mount Airy planning commission continues annexation review

Mount Airy planning commission sends county draft of water resources element to state for 60-day review