Thompson challenges town's annexation plans

County commissioner says Middletown needs to stop future development

The dispute is over the proposed annexation of about 93.9 acres of land north of Middletown Community Park along Coblentz Road into the Town of Middletown. If the annexation goes through, developer Admar Construction Inc., has petitioned to build up to 114 homes on the property. The property is currently zoned by the county for agriculture use, and would have to be re-zoned for residential use.

Thompson enumerated a list of qualms with the way Middletown officials have conducted the pre-annexation process, ranging from minor clerical errors to major policy issues in an e-mail sent out Saturday.

If the most serious qualms are not addressed, Thompson said the county can bring the town to court to ensure they are remedied, as it did with the City of Frederick about 20 years ago when the city tried to ignore annexation limitations.

The e-mail also urged his colleagues on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners to support a resolution he said he will introduce next week that would declare the county's opposition to the annexation.

Thompson is known for his views against developers and growth in Frederick County. He and his colleagues on the county board were elected in 2006 on a slow- to no-growth platform.

Thompson, a commissioner since 1998, has taken issue with Middletown in the past regarding water and growth issues.

Thompson says the main, over-arching reason he opposes the current annexation proposal is Middletown's record with development and growth, and the ways it affects the town.

"There's a history here of the Town of Middletown rolling out the red carpet for developers, giving them anything they want, and then, after the development comes to fruition, all of a sudden they awake with stunned amazement that their schools are overcrowded, that they have traffic on Main Street, and that they don't have any water … When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you need to do is stop digging. They need to stop annexing farmland and putting in developments," he said.

Town Administrator Drew Bowen countered that Thompson does not have all the facts, and that he is entering the discussion late. "The only thing that took me by surprise was all of a sudden this is a big deal," Bowen said after reading the e-mail. "We've been talking about this issue for four years. It's not a surprise. All our meetings with the developer are open."

He also disputed the premises of most of Thompson's arguments. Frederick County commission president Jan H. Gardner (D) said she also has a host of concerns about infrastructure problems the annexation could cause. She said that "the majority of the commissioners" are interested in providing input to Middletown officials regarding the annexation, and that the issue will be added to an upcoming agenda.

"Different services are provided by different levels of government — for instance the county funds schools, the towns don't — so that's why I think it's important for us to communicate to each other so that we understand and work together," Gardner said.

One of the most significant issues with the annexation Thompson listed is that the annexation, if approved, "would permit development of the annexed land for land uses substantially different than the use authorized by the county's [agriculture] zoning."

Bowen argues that if the town wants to annex a piece of land, the only requirement to zone it substantially different from current county zoning, is to get a waiver to build within five years. However, that point is moot, he said, because, the developer does not plan to start developing until 2015, as required by current Middletown development limitations. Thompson counters that the limitations can be circumvented and the agreement to not build until 2015 "can be amended. If a developer has enough clout to get the town to annex them, the developer probably has enough clout to get the annexation agreement changed."

A public hearing on the proposed annexation was scheduled for early September, but will need to be rescheduled at a later date.

Middletown Burgess John D. Miller did not respond to messages left for him by The Gazette's Wednesday press time.