SILVER SPRING – On Thursday, May 7, the Planning Board will review a development plan amendment for a project known as Fairland Community in northeast Montgomery County. If approved, Fairland Community would include up to 365 single family homes – as well as an elementary school, considerable open space, a community center and an extensive trail system connecting the neighborhood, school site and nearby Fairland Recreational Park.
The development is proposed on 314 acres east of at Columbia Road (U.S. 29), south of Sandy Spring Road (MD 198) and north of Greencastle Road near the existing Gunpowder Golf Course. The property is undeveloped.
A development plan for the Fairland site was first approved in 2004, when the developer successfully sought to rezone the property from R-200 to a planned development (PD) zone that would allow construction of a golf course community. The residential community and golf course were to straddle the Montgomery and Prince George’s County line, with close to 400 homes anticipated on the Montgomery County side.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, of which the Planning Department and Planning Board are a part, owned some of the land and agreed to a land swap with the developer to enable the community and newly redesigned public golf course to be built. The agreement was backed by an area citizens’ advisory group, which had long sought more single-family detached homes in the area to balance what it viewed as a disproportionate number of townhouses in the East County.
As a bi-county project, the original plan went to the Prince George’s County Council, which vetoed the proposal in 2004. Since then, the developer has revised the plan to proceed without the golf course or M-NCPPC land. On Thursday, the developer seeks Planning Board approval to amend the plan for 31 fewer units. If approved, the developer would need to submit an amended preliminary plan as well as a site plan.
Of the proposed 365 units, 46 would be moderately priced homes. Staff has required that a high-priority forest area be preserved and has also recommended a more detailed environmental review of 11 of the proposed home sites, which may contain wetlands or wetland buffers. The total number of proposed lots could be reduced at later stages of plan review.
The development plan amendment also includes a request for a waiver of the required PD mix of housing types. The waiver request, which seeks permission to build just 12.5 percent of the homes as attached units, with the rest as detached single-family homes, is backed by the citizens’ advisory committee.
The proposed elementary school would be part of the Paint Branch High School cluster and handle new student residents as well as overflow from the over-capacity Burtonsville Elementary School. The developer has proposed an 11-acre school site.
Who:
Montgomery County Planning Board
What:
Hearing on Fairland Development Plan Amendment
When:
Approximately 1 p.m. Thursday, May 7
Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters
8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring
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