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Construction may finally begin this spring on hundreds of new townhomes in Marlton, 40 years after the Prince George's County Planning Department first approved a comprehensive redevelopment plan for that area.

The Prince George's District Council approved at its Oct. 5 meeting a proposal to build 304 attached single-family townhomes in Marlton. The proposed 90-acre development, known as East Marlton, is just south of the intersection of Croom Road and Croom Station Road and includes a provision to extend Heathermore Boulevard through the development to Duley Station Road.

The approved plan was the result of months of negotiations in 2006 between community groups and the Clarksburg-based developer, Lake Marlton Ltd. Partnership, according to Michael Hethmon, who lives near the site and is a spokesman for the Friends of Croom, a community group for residents in the surrounding area.

Hethmon said members of the group agreed to support the development in exchange for a reduction in the number of homes, a realignment of the road extension to ease traffic on Croom Road and greater effort to preserve wetlands.

"I think both the citizens and the developers gained a lot of mutual respect and really made a lot of progress in learning how to listen and work with each other," Hethmon said.

However, many residents are concerned that the development will stretch already-thin public safety and school resources. The developer will pay fees to offset the impact on local schools and other infrastructure, but it will not be enough to cover what the community needs, Hethmon said.

Bill Manning, president of the Town Center Homeowners Association of Marlton, said he supports the development but is worried about how the county will respond to a more densely populated Marlton.

Existing resources "are inadequate to handle that growth," said Manning, who is also vice president of the Citizen's Association of Marlton, adding he thinks the area needs another middle school, high school and fire station.

Mel Franklin, who lives close to the proposed development, said he is also concerned about more traffic on Heathermore Boulevard.

"We don't need more residential development, particularly in the rural parts of south county," said Franklin, who is also running for the District 9 County Council seat in 2010.

District Council members did require certain conditions be met before the developer receives building permits, which include an archaeological survey to make sure building would not disturb the historic Claggett family cemetery nearby.

The council order also stipulated that before receiving building permits for two of the three sections of the site, the developer has to prepare 3.3 acres within the site for a youth center and develop two other sites for the community off Grandhaven Avenue and Trumps Hill Road. They can begin building on the third site without meeting these criteria.

County planning officials and District Council approved a nearly identical proposal from the developer in 2006, but the three-year time limit for beginning construction expired this year. David Shaffer, a project manager for East Marlton, said the delay stemmed from approval to extend Heathermore Boulevard across train tracks on the property taking longer than expected.

They expect to break ground in the spring and begin selling properties in 2011, he added.