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Resident urges county to halt plans for more than 3,000 high-density housing units
Summary
At a St. Mary's County public forum, Christina Timmons urged commissioners to stop what she described as plans for roughly 3,000 high-density units, saying vacancies already exist and warning of impacts on services and crime. Commissioners said staff will follow up.
Christina Timmons, a resident of Hollywood, told the St. Mary’s County Commissioners at a public forum that she opposes construction of more than 3,000 high-density housing units proposed in the county.
Timmons said the county’s Office of Land Use and Growth Management has identified 16 separate high-density projects and argued those projects would transform the county. “I am opposed to building over 3,000 high density unit housing units in St. Mary's,” she said, defining high-density units as “an apartment, condominium or a townhouse.”
Timmons said she checked vacancy listings and called apartment complexes, reporting “lots of vacancies in Great Mills, Lexington Park, California and all over Saint Mary's County,” and gave rent figures she said she found: “Low end apartments in Great Mills and Lexington Park cost about 1,700 per month. And some of the most expensive units… were over 4,700 per month for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and that's without utilities.” She also said the 3,000-unit figure would equate to roughly 6,000 new residents under the assumption of two earners per unit and asked how many of the new units would be subsidized through Section 8.
Timmons linked the proposed concentration of new units to potential impacts on local services and quality of life, saying the addition “will transform our rural community into an urban landscape with increased crime, pollution, road congestion, and higher taxes.” She asked commissioners to consider scaling back the projects.
Commissioner President Randy Guy responded to audience concerns at the meeting by saying county directors will review and follow up on issues raised during the public forum and that residents may also use the county’s 311 system to report problems. No formal action or vote on the identified projects was recorded during the forum.
Why it matters: The projects Timmons referenced are under review by county staff; questions raised touch on housing supply, rent levels, potential service needs and whether any units will be subsidized, matters that can affect planning decisions and county resource needs going forward.
