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Town Center plan will test patience

Newland says the Clarksburg development will be spectacular but may take a while

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Brian Lewis⁄The Gazette Douglas Delano, of Newland Communities, describes a new park planned for Clarksburg Town Center during a walk through the community last week.

And soon residents there will see some evidence of change.

Certain roads are getting a final topcoat of asphalt and the long-lamented white picket fence that surrounds Murphy’s Grove Pond will come down within a month.

But much more work is happening behind the scenes.

While it may not always be evident, progress is in motion as developer Newland Communities and several home builders have begun implementing pieces of the mediated agreement they negotiated earlier this year with community representatives, said Douglas Delano, vice president of operations for Newland.

‘‘The sense will be that not much is happening because there is so much engineering and architecture plans that is going to have to happen,” Delano said. ‘‘Once that occurs, it is going to have to go through a period of review by the agencies.”

The mediated plan of compliance approved by the county Planning Board will result in a much better community, he said.

‘‘I am confident that the end result will be that we will have an even better project than before and [homeowners] will once again feel great about having purchased a home in Clarksburg Town Center,” Delano said. ‘‘It is going to be a great place to live.”

The removal of the white fence around Murphy’s Grove Pond will be the first evidence of the development’s new amenities.

It is a welcome change for residents who have complained about the pond and fencing being an eyesore. Eventually, the pond will be stocked with fish and feature a fishing pier and a walking trail.

But much more work needs to be done before the pond and other amenities are finished.

Newland is hiring more consultants, landscape architects and engineers, and has named Bob Ditthardt as project manager.

Architects are working on the changes to the clubhouse, pool and an amphitheater on the lawn in front of the clubhouse.

‘‘Part of the program is to significantly enhance the amenities at the residents’ clubhouse,” Delano said. ‘‘That will include expanding the existing pool, adding a year-round lap pool and the gathering building that will be attached to that pool, adding a small concessions building plus installing an amphitheater and additional parking. There is a lot that is going to happen.”

The new plan shifts the location of some apartment buildings and townhouses, but the development will still have about 1,220 units when completed, he said.

A 12-unit building that was supposed to go on Clarksburg Square Road in front of an existing condominium building has been moved and in its stead will be a small park and 10 townhouses.

Residents are looking forward to the retail center, which has been expanded in a variety of ways. It will feature a town plaza, green space, a grocery store, restaurants, a library, shops and live-work units.

The new retail center will also utilize two parking garages instead of all on-street parking, which was added in the plan of compliance.

‘‘What the plan of compliance calls for is a very intensive retail center and neighborhood development here,” Delano said. ‘‘All of it has to be engineered from scratch. It is very complex engineering because in addition to the fact that it is a somewhat slopping site, we have the parking structure that have to be within other residential and commercial buildings.”

The retail project will take at least a year to complete after its site plan is approved.

The addition of the live-work units is one of the most significant changes to the Clarksburg Town Center plan. Owners will buy three-story structures designed so the first floor can be used as a store or office and the owner will live on the floors above the business.

‘‘It allows for activity over a much broader part of the day,” Delano said. ‘‘People not only live there, they work there and they shop there. You wind up with a very active downtown area. That is really one of the objectives of this type of town center.”

Newland will also make changes in curbing required by the county Fire and Rescue Service. Curbs will be adjusted to improve access for emergency vehicles.

The next step for the project will be the submission of a revised site plan for certain areas of the project, including the project’s retail center. Delano said he is working to submit the site plans and amendments by late this year, but he has no idea how long the approval and permitting processes will take.

‘‘It is not a fast process,” Delano said. ‘‘Over the past year or so the processes have gotten more extensive and require more documentation and therefore probably require more time. There is a huge staff requirement on the part of the planning agency.”