Two questions remain for New Market Region Plan

Commissioners have been revising the New Market Region Plan – a document intended to guide growth for 20 years – since they took office late in 2006, and have removed nearly 8,000 homes from the plan, said Commissioner Jan H. Gardner (D), president of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners.

Removing that many homes will ease projected traffic problems and school overcrowding. The plan instead calls for about 5,400 homes to be built in the next 20 years, many of which will be built in Eaglehead.

Gardner said it is important for Land Stewards to finish Eaglehead, which has been under development for decades. ‘‘[Eaglehead] has had zoning for 40 years,” she said.

She said commissioners are deciding how this build-out would occur, and a separate discussion is continuing with Land Stewards, the developer of Eaglehead, for a ‘‘developer rights and responsibilities agreement.”

The agreement would guarantee Land Stewards could build an as-yet undetermined number of homes in exchange for its commitment to pay for roads, schools and other infrastructure. It is expected to come up for a vote in mid-April.

The other issue, extending Royal Oaks Drive, may be one way to relieve traffic. The board is examining road alignments for this extension, Gardner said. The region plan is set for a vote on May 13.

However, residents in the Town of New Market are concerned that the build-out of Eaglehead will gridlock traffic on Md. Route 144 if a bypass is not built.

One prospective route a bypass is through the so-called Smith-Cline property, which is approximately 260 acres, according to one of the property owners, Wayne Smith.

Smith has estimated that such a bypass would cost $8 million.

New Market annexed the land last year so Winchester Homes could build 925 homes in exchange for paying for the bypass, but town residents overturned the annexation.

The Frederick Board of County Commissioners has since zoned the land for agriculture, and would only consider a non-developer-funded bypass, which Smith does not see as realistic.

Commissioners also decided that the property would be ideal for a district park because of its location between Route 75 and Meadow Road. Gardner said she personally thought the property would also be good for a middle school or fire station, as well. Smith, who has a background in architecture and planning, said he had always intended to incorporate a park into the development of his property.

‘‘In many ways, [commissioners] stole my thunder,” he said.