Politics & Government

Sector Plan Goes to County Council, New Ennalls Connection Possibly a Private Road

Plan went to County Council on April 15.

In the Planning Board’s final look at the Wheaton Sector Plan, it was all about Ennalls Avenue.

The board had six worksessions since the July 2010 public hearing of the draft. While the majority of the changes had already been set, the planning board had one more review on March 31, before the plan was sent to the County Council for another round of public comment and modifications.

A day before the hearing, planning board staff learned that the topography for a possible realignment of Ennalls Avenue between Grandview and Georgia would not fit standards for county roads.

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Based on this issue, staff requested that the plan include language allowing the possibility of that section of Ennalls becoming a private street.

“What are the implicaions of it being a private road, other than 1st amendment?” Planning Board Chair Francoise Carrier asked. 

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Staff member Tom Autry said the planning board would actually get the chance to set conditions on the private road at the time of development review - i.e. on paving surface, maintenance agreements, etc.  The recommendation to allow the road to be privatized came as a working answer to the problems that recreating a county road between Grandview and Georgia would create.

Adding the language to the sector plan would not guarantee that a new segment of Ennalls would be private, if built at all.

While the actual alignment of a new Ennalls that would match the crosswalk for Price Avenue  “will be decided at the time of redevelopment” - functionally when B.F. Saul or another large developer puts forth a plan that involves the road. A planned extension of Ennalls west of Veirs Mill Road to the mall’s ring road is already designated private, while the section of Ennalls between Veirs Mill and Grandview would be public, according to the new sector plan.


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