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Hughesville Station plan wins community's support
‘Preserve' group gives its blessing to office park
Friday, Jan. 23, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Artist's rendering courtesy of RAY MERTZ
Developer Ray Mertz hopes to build Hughesville Station near Foster Lane in Hughesville. The development will contain offices, flex space and retail shops.
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The community watchdog group Preserve Hughesville has made a name for itself by opposing both a county baseball stadium and an industrial park proposed by Chaney Enterprises, killing the former and stalling the latter.
But the group switched gears last week to throw its support behind the Hughesville Station office park being proposed for the north side of the village on the east side of Route 5 near Foster Lane.
The 50-acre parcel is zoned for agricultural conservation, and developer Ray Mertz needs the county commissioners' approval for a floating planned development zone that will allow him to build an office park. Mertz has promised to build the park to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building standards.
"Mr. Mertz has put his money where his mouth is," said Hughesville resident Donna Cave, reading the group's statement during a public hearing on the project. She said his project matches the vision her group has for a "bustling, busy and vital" village center.
The project was also supported by Christy Hartman, owner of the Appliance Source in Mechanicsville. She plans to relocate her business to the park.
The Hughesville Station development was unanimously endorsed by the county's planning commission. The developers say the project's tenants could employ as many as 178 workers and furnish the county with $262,000 in yearly tax revenue.
Mertz's development team said they plan to pursue the minimum "certified" LEED standard, but might shoot for a "silver" rating if funds permit.
The relationship between Preserve Hughesville and Mertz is a stark contrast to the rezoning row between the group and Chaney Enterprises. Chaney has proposed rezoning 150 acres south of Route 231 from rural residential to heavy industrial with potential plans to construct a gravel wash plant and an industrial park that would include a new Red Cross headquarters as well as College of Southern Maryland training facilities.
At a June public hearing on the proposal, several members of Preserve Hughesville roundly panned it, claiming that it would clog traffic, destroy the village's tranquility and does not conform to the local development plan. The group has continued to hammer the project in letters to the media, state and local officials.
In October, the commissioners voted to sideline any decision on the Chaney rezoning until this month at the earliest.
In her statement, Cave did not mention the Chaney project by name, but noted, "There are projects that contribute to [our] vision, and there are those that do not."
The commissioners have left the record for the Hughesville Station public hearing open until Jan. 26 for written comments.
