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Annapolis approves delayed workforce housing development after traffic, safety concerns addressed

School buses and cars at then Monarch Academy in Annapolis during afternoon dismissal.
Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette
School buses and cars at then Monarch Academy in Annapolis during afternoon dismissal.
Brooks DuBose, Capital Gazette City Hall and Naval Academy reporter

The Annapolis Planning and Zoning department gave the green light to a workforce housing development project on West Street earlier this month after it was delayed in October to address traffic and safety concerns raised by parents and officials from a nearby elementary school.

The department issued a grading permit Dec. 6 to developers of Towne Courts, clearing the way for a 42-unit development aimed at working professionals like teachers and nurses.

The project was delayed in late October when parents and officials from the nearby Monarch Academy cited traffic and safety issues that might arise from the project that has been in the works for years. At an Oct. 28 City Council meeting, City Manager Teresa Sutherland said the permit would not be issued until the developer submitted an updated traffic plan.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based developers, PIRHL Contractors, provided a revised traffic flow plan to show how it will work with traffic at the contract school, said Sally Nash, planning and zoning acting director.

In late October, parents and officials from the elementary school said the project could cause traffic backups on Capital Drive, the lone entrance and exit point for the 700-student school. Some parents called for the developers to move the project’s planned entrance and exit away from Capital Drive.

The approved site plan for the project will not change, Nash said. Cars from the planned development will still empty onto Capital Drive, though developers did submit updated plans for additional signage near those points, including a painted shared-lane marking, as well as relocating no-parking and one-way signs closer to the road.

“I think that Towne Courts has mitigated their impact,” Nash said. “They are paying for a third of the traffic signal at Gibraltar and West Street which will hopefully help people turn in and out of Gibraltar.”

Representatives from PIRHL Contractors could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

As the development moves forward, traffic will remain an issue and wouldn’t be fully mitigated unless many more lanes were built, Nash said, which isn’t feasible.

“That is never going to be completely seamless. This is something that happens at every school,” she said.

Parents expressed shock and surprise at two City Council meetings in October, saying that they had little knowledge of the project and were caught off guard when a back-to-school event was canceled because of some initial construction at the development site. Others were alarmed that the project would eliminate a grass area along Capital Drive that students stand on during fire drills and other emergency situations.

Part of the confusion stemmed from a turnover in leadership at Monarch that led to a communication gap, Nash said.

Some of the issues were ironed out during a Nov. 15 meeting between city officials, developers and Monarch administrators and its property owner, she said. The parties discussed a new location for students to stand during fire drills and coordination and communication efforts as the construction gets underway, among other things.

The Children’s Guild Alliance, organization that operates Monarch, notified parents of the impending construction project in an Oct. 2 letter, which explained some of the logistics, including requiring construction vehicles to access the work site from Gibraltar Avenue outside of peak hours, prohibiting workers from parking on the school’s property, installing a traffic control signal at West Street and Gibraltar and a traffic officer to direct traffic during the morning and afternoon.

Representatives from the Alliance could not be immediately reached Tuesday.