Carrolltowne United Members:

Last week’s meeting of Carrolltowne United was the first general meeting
to be held since the last day of March.  In the meantime we had been
keeping you up to date through emails.  For quite some time we may have
seemed to be in a holding pattern as we awaited a ruling from the Court of
Special Appeals.

Since that ruling was rendered, the pace has picked up considerably.  
The officers of CU were anticipating a productive meeting last week to
move forward with plans to address traffic and safety concerns with
respect to the incoming townhome development.

A primary focus of Thursday’s CU meeting was to provide a forum for all
residents of Carrolltowne II to discuss the possibility of putting a cul-de-
sac on Kali Drive.  While it is clear that the potential 500 cars resulting
from the new townhome development would have the greatest impact on
residents of Kali Drive, the residents of Falstaff and McDuff (including
some private courts off of these streets) also would be affected by
creating the cul-de-sac.  Almost assuredly, if a court is created school
buses would no longer enter the neighborhood, requiring children in
grades K-5 to catch the bus on heavily traveled Ridge Road.  In addition,
CU received email raising other concerns of residents who were not in
favor of a court.

A driving principle of CU has been “Let All Voices Be Heard.”  Because we
felt that these issues merited open debate, we held this meeting
specifically to focus on Carrolltowne II, creating a court on Kali Drive, and
forming representation from that neighborhood for the upcoming meeting
between the County, CU, and Security Development Corporation.

The discussions at Thursday’s CU meeting were controversial and highly
animated.  Some residents of Kali Drive indicated that they no longer feel
that CU represents their best interests.  They made this point abundantly
clear, making the motion to disband CU.

But as long as there are people in the community who feel that CU can
contribute to the greater good and who are willing to make that effort, CU
will continue to work on the issue of the development off of Kali Drive.

Prior to the lengthy discussion surrounding the suggestion that CU
disband, time was spent discussing putting a court on Kali Drive.  Only a
few residents from Falstaff and McDuff were in attendance.  No one spoke
out against a court.  Because of these facts, CU embraces the idea of
placing a court on Kali Drive and will work toward that goal.  Due to the
fact that residents of Kali Drive themselves have a strong interest in a
court and the details of such a court, CU believes that Kali residents
should be the people to negotiate those details with SDC and the County.  
We support them in their efforts. CU has been working to create the
conditions for them to be successful.

Another area of focus for CU is creating a right-in/right-out access to the
new development off of Rte. 26.  We believe that having access off of two
different roads will address some of the traffic safety concerns.  Likewise,
we’re hoping to work with the County and SDC to make improvements to
the intersection of Ridge Road and Rte. 26.

Additionally, we would like to ask SDC to consider some sort of phasing-in
of the construction of the townhomes.  As the court order was written,
SDC is not required to follow the standard phasing-in of the development.  
Conceptually, they could build all 254 units all at once.  While we don’t
expect SDC to agree to build a mere 25 units per year, we will ask them to
consider a more gradual process to allow the County and Eldersburg to
adjust to the inherent changes the development will bring (to schools,
roads, water, etc.).

I spoke with Rob Moxley of SDC on Tuesday afternoon.  He assured me
that SDC is looking forward to working with the County and CU at an
upcoming meeting, to discuss more specifically the right-in/right-out for
Rte. 26 and a cul-de-sac on Kali Drive.  He described the right-in/right-out
on Rte. 26 and the cul-de-sac on Kali as changes that would go “hand-in-
hand.”  He felt that without an access point to the development added on
Rte. 26, the cul-de-sac on Kali probably couldn’t happen.  CU will continue
to work on the right-in/right-out issue to increase the likelihood of the cul-
de-sac becoming a reality.

CU is hoping that the State Highway Administration will also attend the
upcoming meeting to facilitate these changes taking place.  This
cooperative meeting will have the following attendees:  SHA, Department
of Planning, Department of Public Works, County Attorney, all the
principals of SDC, and CU, including representatives from Carrolltowne II.  

Although Kali residents are working independently toward obtaining a cul-
de-sac on Kali Drive, we encourage them to attend the upcoming meeting.

CU is an organization open to the public—it has been since its inception.  
This, too, is a driving principle.  As such, anyone is free to attend our
meetings at any time.  Likewise, no one is required to attend.  Anyone
who is in disagreement with our efforts is invited to our meetings to voice
and debate their opinions in a civil manner.  

CU will continue to work for the entire Eldersburg community.  The
townhome development to be built off of Kali Drive will have multi-faceted
effects.  CU will continue to address all of these issues, as they will affect
all area residents.

The support of the community has been invaluable and greatly
appreciated.

Michele Carroll, President
Carrolltowne United