Tidal Wave Appeal
Appeals Meeting To Be Continued…
Concept plan layouts from both project, overlaid on satellite.
Tidal Wave Auto Spa, proposed at the corner of the Route 4/235 intersection, was denied by the Planning Commission in October 2024. Attorney Chris Longmore, on behalf of PJ Land Development LLC, appealed the decision with the Board of Appeals (BOA). Longmore requested a continuance of the appeals hearing on January 9th and the matter was rescheduled for February 27th. Now, Longmore may again ask for a continuance until the project can be considered by the full appeals board–meaning no absent members. If granted, the hearing for Tidal Wave Auto Spa will move to April 10th.
Riverside Townhomes, a neighboring project proposed by LAHACO Investments LLC, was denied by the Planning Commission (PC) in November 2024. Traffic concerns were relevant to both Tidal Wave and Riverside Townhomes given their proximity to the county’s busiest intersection, which has long been at failing levels of service. PC members were concerned with drivers accelerating through the intersection, the several merging lanes of traffic directly in front of these two projects. Related to the townhome community were specific worries over safety of a school bus stop on the shoulder of a highway that sees nearly 2700 vehicles pass through per hour during peak travel times. Riverside Townhomes was scheduled for an appeals hearing on February 13th.
Rendering of Riverside Townhomes
The BOA meeting on February 13th ran until 10PM, at which point they continued the hearing until March 27th. Appeals members had a range of questions about the project. Each project gets a fresh state in front of the BOA because board members cannot consider testimony, evidence, or other information supplied during the PC hearing. Things become more complicated when the project also requires a variance, like in the cases of Tidal Wave Auto Space and Riverside Townhomes. In these instances, the appeals case is heard first–basically a do over of the original PC meeting where the BOA acts as the PC. If the appeal is granted, overturning the PC’s denial, then the BOA considers variance requests.
These projects have been leap-frogging throughout the entire process. At one point, PJ Land Development and LAHACO Investments worked together on a plan to include an access road along the rear of both properties. That would’ve eliminated ingress/egress on 235 for the townhomes, and could’ve redirected traffic along the access road and away from the Route 4 intersections. To mitigate traffic impacts of both projects, a fee-in-lieu (FIL) payment towards the signalization of FDR Blvd/Route 235/By the Mill Road was proposed by both projects. Based on traffic impacts of each project, Tidal Wave’s payment would be $12,369.50 and Riverside Townhomes would pay approximately $3,500. The Honda/Kia Dealership approved in July 2024 is contributing $18,500 towards the signal. Combined, the three projects would set aside over $34K towards the estimated $500K+ cost of the traffic signal.
Previous version of the plan showing By the Mill access road.
Access and connector roads that remove traffic from main thoroughfare 235 have long been a goal for the county. The most notable, FDR Blvd, has crept toward completion and is now regularly used to divert traffic from Route 4 as far south as Buck Hewitt Road so motorists can avoid the sequence of traffic lights. Another connector road is taking shape parallel to north bound 235. Abell House Lane, where it meets Shady Mile Drive, is extending north behind the under construction Magic Tunnel Car Wash to meet California Blvd. The connector could extend as far north as By the Mill Way, or even up to Oak Crest Dr.
With the approval of the Honda/Kia dealership, the county has access to a road right-of-way along the back of the dealership’s property. Similarly, the county made an agreement with Lexington Park Ford for FDR Blvd to run behind the dealership. A right-of-way exists behind the Tidal Wave and Riverside Townhomes properties, but it is privately owned and the owner has no interest in the road’s construction. Without that in place, the viability of both projects seemed to dim.
Signalizing FDR at 235 permits traffic to make a left turn and travel north which is only possible now by using the Route 4/235 intersection. By removing trips from this intersection, connectors like FDR help the flow of traffic and band-aid the long-term need of a bypass (which is connected to a new Thomas Johnson Bridge). Securing ROW use for connectors is helpful, but the county usually bears the brunt of construction costs. If county revenues shift, or competing priorities are at play, it can delay completion of the road–as was the case with FDR Blvd, having been planned for several decades and still not being finished.
If you have comments regarding either Riverside Townhomes, or Tidal Wave Auto Spa, you can email them to Sherrie.Young@stmaryscountymd.gov for inclusion in the record. As a reminder, Riverside Townhomes is scheduled with the BOA on March 27th, at 6:30PM; Tidal Wave Auto Spa will likely be continued from February 27th to April 10th.
