Shopping center proposal rejected

Accokeek residents say land should be used for parks, schools and gathering places

But such a built-out development would ruin the area’s rural, small-town character, residents said during a public forum June 25 that packed hundreds into the Accokeek Volunteer Fire Department’s hall.

‘‘If something like that were built here, little of what is Accokeek would remain,” said Susan Jones, who owns a carryout restaurant across from the land in question.

Rather than seeing large commercial growth on the land, residents voiced their wish for new schools, saying many of the schools in their area are old and overcrowded.

‘‘You can tell by the consensus that nobody wants a shopping center. They want schools,” said Ray Lacy, PTA president of Henry G. Ferguson Elementary School in Accokeek.

Many of the area’s schools are the oldest in the county and were identified in a recent county school system-sponsored study as being in dire need of repairs or replacement, with Henry Ferguson listed near the top.

County planner Wendy Irminger said based on current land use designations and growth patterns, the county has determined that Accokeek will need two elementary schools in the near future.

The meeting was held as part of a regular Greater Accokeek Civic Association gathering. It drew together residents, county planners and Regency Centers representatives to discuss various options for how to incorporate the 56 acres and other adjacent parcels into the county’s Subregion Five master plan.

The land under discussion, which totals about 70 acres on more than a dozen parcels, is mostly undeveloped, although a strip along Livingston Road is designated for commercial use. The land Regency Centers is eyeing for a shopping center is currently zoned rural residential, which would have to change if the company is to proceed with its plans for a shopping center.

The master plan, which county planners expect to finalize by next January, will represent the Department of Planning’s recommendations for future land use and development in the county.

Four separate recommendations for the land were presented by the developers, county planners, GACA and the Accokeek, Mattawoman, Piscataway Creeks Communities Council.

Irminger, who is the lead planner for Subregion Five, proposed using the land for a school, open space and trails, some small businesses and low-density housing.

Kelly Canavan, president of the Accokeek, Mattawoman, Piscataway Creeks Communities Council, said that her environmental organization was recommending building an elementary school and a high school, while conserving the remainder of the land.

‘‘We’re looking for Accokeek to remain small,” Canavan said. ‘‘I’m pretty sure most of us moved here because we don’t want to live in Waldorf.”

Jones, speaking on behalf of GACA, also urged building a school and preserving some of the land, but suggested working with the county to rehabilitate small businesses along Livingston Road. She also suggested adding a multi-use community area for outdoor activities.

Seth Long, senior manager of investments with Regency Centers, said his company was still investigating what type of shopping center it would like to build, but that it would likely be anchored by a supermarket or big box store.

‘‘What we’re doing is compiling additional information from residents to understand what you really want,” he said.

Long said that a telephone survey of about 400 people that his company paid for indicated that about 75 percent of Accokeek-area residents wanted a high-end grocery store.

But a show-of-hands vote at the end of the meeting showed that the overwhelming majority of those in attendance favored recommendations to use the land for schools, open spaces, and a revitalized strip of small businesses along Livingston Road.

No more than 10 people raised their hands in favor of the shopping center, and only a handful favored the county’s plan of putting in low-density housing.

Accokeek resident Jane Harris agreed with Long that the area could use something like Whole Foods, but said she would rather see it built in Waldorf, which is about 10 miles away.

‘‘I’d like to have one of those, but not here,” she said.

E-mail Andy Zieminski at azieminski@gazette.net.