Annapolis committee postpones transfer of Spa Road site as members seek more detail on cleanup, map and costs

Annapolis’ Environmental Matters Committee on July 10 voted to postpone consideration of an ordinance that would temporarily transfer parts of the city-owned Spa Road property to the Anne Arundel County Resilience Authority to allow the authority to pursue an EPA Brownfields cleanup grant.

Committee members said they needed more information — including a current subdivision map, findings from the Phase 2 environmental site assessment and a clearer estimate of remediation costs — before approving the administrative transfer. The committee’s motion to postpone carried without a recorded roll-call vote.

The ordinance (O-20-25) would move two parcels of the Spa Road property to the county resilience authority for up to seven years, with a reverter clause that would return the land to the city if redevelopment did not proceed. City staff described the step as a mechanism to make the site eligible for federal Brownfields funding rather than an agreement that final development plans are set.

“This is simply one step, one mechanism. It is its purpose is purely to make us eligible for a…