Blythewood Online 691

Tag: Mt. Valley Road

  • PC Oks Abney Hill Phase 3

    BLYTHEWOOD – Although it was not specifically an agenda item, the agreeable response by a builder to a request made by members of the Mt. Valley Road area at the February Planning Commission meeting was a highlight at Monday night’s meeting.

    Last month, residents asked that public access onto Valley Estates Drive from Mt. Valley Road be closed. The heavy construction traffic was destroying the only entrance to their homes, residents told Commissioners. Resident Charles Bayne made the request during public comment time in February and appeared again at the March meeting.

    Frank Berry, on behalf of Essex homes, presented a plan Monday evening that designated the secondary access onto Valley Estates Drive from Mt. Valley Road as an “Emergency Only” access point to be secured by a double-swing gate, supplied with a Supra Lock Box for key access by emergency vehicles. The E911 has updated GIS in CAD for future response of emergency vehicles. Otherwise, secondary access onto Valley Estates Drive from Mt. Valley Road will be stopped by the yet-to-be installed gate.

    In the meantime, Berry said a ‘No Entrance’ sign has been placed at the emergency entrance. Berry said the gate has been ordered and that he is awaiting delivery.

    “I anticipate it will arrive within 45 days,” Berry said.

    The main item on the agenda was the request for approval of the Abney Hills subdivision Phase 3 sketch plan. Phase 3 totals 17.39 acres with 31 lots averaging 16,027 square feet.

    With 33 single family homes, Phase 3 is expected to be built out by 2021, Berry said. It will have access on Valley Estates Drive in Phase 1 which is built out with 90 lots. In Phase 2, construction on 52 lots is underway. Future phases across the creek have the potential for 192 lots and a build out date of 2024.  The remaining phases of Ashley Oaks (across Fulmer Road) are known as Phases 8 and 9 and include 159 lots.

    The findings of a traffic impact study conducted in November 2018 indicate that no road improvements need to be considered for Phase 3 (2022 build) Berry said.

    The sketch plan was approved unanimously as presented but contingent on the gate being installed as described at the secondary access on to Valley Estates Drive from Mt. Valley Drive.

    Chairman Donald Brock announced that Planning Commission member Michelle Kiedrowski has resigned from the Commission.

  • Mt. Valley residents want road gated

    BLYTHEWOOD – Mt. Valley Road residents are asking the Blythewood Planning Commission to close off public access to the south side of the road from the Abney Hills area, saying the heavy construction traffic has nearly destroyed the only entrance to their homes.

    Charles Bayne appeared before the commission Monday night to make the request after he said he had taken all the necessary steps to resolve the issue on his own with Essex Homes.

    In his previous conversations with Frank Berry of Essex, Bayne said he had been promised that construction traffic would cease and that a ‘No Entrance’ sign would be placed at the secondary entrance to Abney Hills where the third phase of construction has been taking place.

    Bayne said no sign had been placed by the time of the meeting, and that just one week ago he had seen a cement truck driving along the one and a half lane dirt road. He said the ruts caused by the heavy traffic makes for a driving disaster after a single day of rain.

    “The county has had to come scrape the road twice since December and it has already become a slick clay mud hole again,” Bayne stated.

    The biggest question that looms over Bayne’s struggles is the legality of the commission’s ability to block off the road. According to commission chairman Donald Brock, Mt. Valley Road is a private road with limits on who may access it, but also poses limitations to the authority of the town and county. Bayne said the county does have a maintenance agreement for the road, but that it only applies to scraping and some rock distribution upon request of the residents.

    “What we have to collectively figure out is what can be done, legally, that will be satisfactory,” Brock stated.

    One option that was tossed around during the meeting was to install a gate activated by a key or “squawk box” that would allow emergency vehicles access to the road under emergency circumstances.

    Bayne and another resident who owns sixth tenths of the roadway agreed to the gate, but Bayne has no ownership in the road and he said he doesn’t know who else has ownership in it.

    No action was officially taken, however, as Brock said he wished to give Essex Homes a chance to speak on the situation.

    A representative of Essex is expected to appear before the commission next month.