Council hears county presentation on 3‑box culvert and potential condemnation of easements

At the second public hearing the planning planner explained a county-led proposal to install an additional 3‑box culvert at the crossing of North 21st Street and the South Fork of Catoctin Creek as part of the county's 7690 interchange project.

Jordan Andrews told the council the work would require approximately 0.06 acres (about 2,700 sq ft) of permanent right-of-way and roughly 0.12 acres (about 5,300 sq ft) of temporary construction easement that the property owner (Catoctin Meadows HOA) would not convey voluntarily because the HOA could not reach the super‑majority required. Andrews said the county had offered the right-of-way request to the HOA but that legal counsel for the HOA concluded the required 3/4 majority was infeasible, so the county and town must consider condemnation if necessary. He summarized the flood model results: the culvert is projected to reduce affected homeowner floodplain impact by approximately 0.87 acres (about 38,000 sq ft). Andrews also said the county would pay to build the culvert and the town would assume maintenance responsibilities thereafter; staff asked only for public comment and to consider action at the Jan. 28 meeting when the dedication of additional town right-of-way would be on the agenda.

Council and public questions focused on whether the culvert would eliminate flooding in private yards (staff said it would reduce but not eliminate some downstream floodplain increases), whether downstream impacts are fully understood (staff said further modeling and floodplain map revisions are needed), and on the legal route if voluntary right-of-way conveyance fails.