The Bowie City Council, via a 6-1 vote, approved the preliminary plan of subdivision for the proposed mixed-use project on the Melford property, which sits at the northeast corner of the intersection of routes 3 and 50.
Michael Esteve was the lone dissenting vote on the council.
The plans call for 1,793 homes —1,500 apartments (one-third of which would be age-restricted) and 293 townhomes — along with 359,000 square feet of commercial and office space.
Representatives from St. John Properties Inc., the owners and developers of the site, say they envision an environment where the people who work in the office buildings would live in the homes in the complex, creating a self-contained community.
Many Bowie residents have argued a project of that magnitude would make an already bad traffic situation even worse along Route 3 and other roads as Melford residents venture out to shop, eat out or take children to school. About 20 residents spoke out against the project during a public hearing before the city's planning board.
Another 10 residents publicly voiced their objections to the size of the Melford project on Monday night.
"I am not opposed to smart growth and economic development," said Al Baumann, a former director of the Bowie Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the city's economic development committee. "But my real concern is the traffic ... The project is too big, too dense for the roads to handle and it's going to create a major burden on the community."
Melford Drive, the only road that goes in and out of the planned development, becomes Belair Drive as it crosses Route 3. According to traffic studies, Belair Drive is already far beyond its designated traffic capacity, with more than 8,000 vehicle trips per day. Recommended capacity is about 5,200 vehicle trips per day.
That will only get worse once the complex is built out, Baumann said. He says Melford residents will use Belair and the surrounding neighborhoods streets as a shortcut to other areas in Bowie because Route 3 (which Melford residents can also access from the development) is already too crowded.
"People are going to learn you can go through Belair Drive and side streets and get there quicker than going south on Route 3," he said.
Baumann and others have noted the city code says no development should be approved by the planning department that "when added to the existing traffic levels, will result in the deterioration of traffic" beyond recommended levels.
"Because the project is located on the other side of the Route 3 interchange, we didn't feel this section of the code applied to this project," said Joe Meinert, the city's planning director. "To me it's a different situation."
Robert Antonetti, the legal representative for the developer, said St. John would install "traffic calming" devices on Belair Drive to slow the traffic there and discourage Melford residents from using the street as a shortcut. He said any one of a number of methods could be used, but that there would no speed bumps.
But such methods would only be "punishing current Bowie residents to alleviate the problems with St. John's proposed plans," said Fiona Moodie, another resident who spoke against the project as currently designed.
Esteve was sympathetic to the traffic concerns.
"The biggest issue for me was the independent report that concluded that Melford would worsen traffic conditions on Belair Drive, which is already well over its recommended capacity," he said. "Saint John has offered to implement traffic calming to help mitigate this issue, but I have strong doubts that traffic calming measures will seriously improve congestion on an already heavily trafficked set of roads."
In her comments, Moodie also called approval of the preliminary plans "premature" because of a legal challenge to the project that remains unresolved. A group of residents and local organizations filed suit to scale back the Melford project to 866 residential units, the number called for in the 2006 Bowie Master Plan.
Antonetti has argued the more recent county general plan, which allows for greater density at designated "town centers" like Melford, should be the document that determines the size of the project.
St. John Properties gained a favorable ruling in Circuit Court, but an appeal has been filed. Oral arguments before the appellate court are expected to begin in April, Antonetti said, with a final judgment coming four to six months later.
In the meantime, the developer is continuing the approval process. The plan approved by the city Monday night will go to the county planning board on March 2. A more specific detailed site plan is expected to go before city officials for review later this year.
Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson acknowledged the traffic concerns, but felt the addition of senior living units to the city would be a benefit. Many members of Bowie's older population are leaving the city in favor of senior facilities in Anne Arundel County, he said. Setting aside units specifically for seniors was also part of the agreement the city struck with Berman Enterprises on the apartments to accompany the Marketplace shopping center.
"Given all the factors there and the investment these folks are making, I think this a is a reasonable decision," he said. "Does everyone agree with it? No. But at the end of the day, it's going to help with our long-term challenge with senior residents.
"Do I think there's going to be some traffic problems? Yes. We're going to have to mitigate (that) as best we can. We all go from Point A to Point B. Where ever we go, we drive through some neighborhood. It'll be a challenge, but we'll do everything we can to make sure (traffic) gets mitigated."