La Plata Town Hall Meeting Recap (1/22/2008)

    Thomas and I just got back from the La Plata town hall meeting, and the council voted to send a letter to the State Highway Administration (SHA) recommending AGAINST a traffic light at 301 and Oriole Lane in La Plata, MD.

    There was a very large crowd of people in attendance, mostly residents of the subdivisions that would be affected by the Kohl's development plan.  Quite a few people spoke out regarding both Kohl's and the traffic light proposal, and they were in large part opposed to the potential development.

    There's a few thoughts that have been running through my mind since the meeting, and I think it's important to look at this development plan from all angles.

TRAFFIC CONCERNS

    People are worried about drivers using their community as a pass-through to get to Kohl's.  I agree that traffic will become more problematic as people look to these communities as a short cut to their destination, and people should be concerned.

    Residents have been told that Oriole Ln. itself cannot be closed because of emergency vehicle access.  Several residents have pitched the idea of closing off the community access  to Rt. 301 completely by closing Oriole Ln.  I think that the idea of shutting off access into the community is a smart idea! 

    How about this:  Turn that section of Oriole Ln. between where Kohl's entrance is and where the Hawthorne Green homes begin into a restriced use (i.e., emergency vehicles only) zone?  This would allow Police, Fire and EMS access while preventing people from cutting through the area for convenience.

HOME VALUE CONCERNS

    I've heard a lot of people voicing concern over what this Kohl's project is going to do to their home values.  In previous posts I mentioned that people who may have a view of the proposed project are at risk of home devaluation.  This proposal affects more than just those specific homes in Hawthorne Green, however, and I will discuss the potential impact further in my next post.

~Jonathan Benya

Waldorf and Southern Maryland Real Estate

Southern Maryland Real Estate Blog