Development Updates:

Plans for Bank Revised

JPMorgan Chase Bank is moving forward with plans to redevelop the former Ruby Tuesday site in the River Hill Village Center. Representatives from JPMorgan Chase and Core States Inc. will present a revised site plan to the association’s Board of Directors on Monday, October 7 (this is an update since they were originally scheduled to attend the 9/9 meeting) at 7 p.m. at Claret Hall. River Hill residents are invited to attend this meeting. Modifications have been made to the plan shared in June. The revised plan integrates comments made at the meeting regarding the construction of a bank branch building and provides more details pertaining to the subdivision of the parcel and the re-use of the former restaurant building.

As part of the county’s process, Chase Bank must hold a Pre-Submission Community Meeting, and the plans must be re-viewed by the County’s Design Advisory Panel. Once these meet-ings are scheduled, the association will publicize the information so interested residents may attend. Additionally, the plans require approval from the Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) which has architectural and landscaping control and covenant enforcement responsibility for all properties in the village center. HHC’s design requirements may be more stringent than the county.

Model Home Park Construction to Begin

The Cedar Creek residential development located at 7600 Grace Drive is coming closer to becoming a reality. The Final Plans for Phases 1 and 2 were determined by the county to be technically complete in the spring. In May, a site development plan for Phase 1 (SDP-19-022) was approved. This plan includes the improvements along Grace Drive (bikeway, sidewalk connections, crosswalks, and a bike station), entrance features to the new community, and the model homes for the single family – detached and townhouse units. NV Homes will be the builder. Chesapeake Realty Partners, the developer, expects to break ground in mid-fall, once they have obtained the needed bonds, the plats have been signed, the documents have been recorded, and the grading per-mit has been obtained. Tentative allocations for the schools were assigned in 2016 and will be made permanent when the plans have been signed and recorded. In the meantime, residents may notice the fence between WRGrace and the Cedar Creek development being relocated. The site development plan for the environmental trail and bridge connecting the new development to the Robinson Nature Center (SDP-19-025) is currently under review by the county.

Robinson Overlook

The Woda Group, in conjunction with the Howard County Housing Commission, has plans for 48 dwelling units spread be-tween five residential apartment buildings at 7410 Grace Drive. The development will have a low, moderate, and mixed income housing structure and is a permitted use under the current zoning. The County Council approved a resolution on July 29 permit-ting a Payment in Lieu of Taxes Agreement (CR-97-2019) for the project. This approval enables the project to be exempt from meeting the requirements of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, including the test for school allocations. The developer has requested an administrative adjustment from the county’s bulk regulation requirements to reduce the setbacks for sidewalks and two buildings (AA-19-011). A meeting on this matter was scheduled for August 21, however a decision was not available prior to finalizing this issue of the newsletter. The site development plan for the project (SDP-19-055) is currently under review by the county’s Sub-division Review Committee and a revised plan must be submitted on or before September 8. When the SRC’s review is nearing or is complete, the Planning Board will hold a hearing and make a final decision on approval of the SDP.