Main Street Eldersburg

A Proposed Development by Black Oak Associates called Main Street Eldersburg is to be located across from the old London Fog factory, behind Walmart.

“Main Street Eldersburg is a proposed lifestyle center in the fast-growing town of Eldersburg, MD. A sustainable multi-tenant retail development featuring the latest “green building” technologies, the project will utilize sustainable design and construction technologies to lessen the impact on the environment, save money for tenants, and create a healthy place to work and shop. The 83,000 square foot center will integrate attractive architecture with scalable energy-efficient systems. It is anticipated that the project will achieve LEED Silver certification, an award indicating a high level of environmental responsibility specified by the federal government.”

The LEED certification is a good sign as the building industry slowly embraces environmental friendly practices. Hope to see more “green” projects in the future.

What is LEED??

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

More information on LEED can be found here: www.USGBC.org

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Black Oak Associates also owns the Carrolltown Center Mall which according to their website, is slated for redevelopment in the 2007/2008 timeframe. This can’t come soon enough as this center is in dire need of a visit with the wrecking ball. I’ll talk more about this center in detail on a later post…

Another Grocery Store???? - Freedom Plaza to Expand

Freedom Plaza to Expand: Eldersburg Eagle Article

We don't need another Grogercy Store..

***Don't have a problem with the expansion (it is relatively small), though hope something more useful goes into this vacant suite.

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season (Merry Christmas for me).

Just got back in town this evening from visiting family up in Pennsylvania. Was in a good mood until I was repeatedly cut-off, tail-gated and passed by people driving excessively fast. I myself sometimes have a heavy foot but try to be a patient and courteousness driver.

It is amazing how many people do not...

Are you an aggressive driver: Take a test to find out.

Train wreck exposes nature's beauty

There was a train derailment 4-5 miles from my house…

Details can be found here: Derailed train spurs evacuation

Luckily, a bad situation turned out well and nothing dangerous leaked from the derailed cars.

Watching the pictures and video on the news.. I was amazed by the beauty and majesty of the area at the derailment. It is a very short walk from an area I know well from the daily drive to work (Marriottsville road). Made me question what other natural wonders are just outside our doors and rarely see. I’m going to make a point to explore more of our community's less traveled and spend more time in nature’s beauty.

Lot’s of restaurants and nothing to eat…

Here in Eldersburg, we have a descent assortment of restaurants, though, very few chains. We do seem to have more than our quota of small Italian and Hibachi places, some are not too bad. The big news of the year seemed to be the addition of Panera.

Rumors are we will soon be getting a TGI Friday’s though I’ll believe it when I see it.

I personally would kill for an Olive Garden, a good Indian or Korean restaurant or a Vietnamese Pho place. If you haven’t tried, I highly recommend it. There is a pretty good Pho place in Elliott City in the same plaza as Babies R’ Us.

Kali Drive fiasco..

A summary of the development fight can be found here:

http://www.carrolltowneunited.org/history.html

it goes way back (over ten years) but basically it is a fight over a planned rental townhouse development between Liberty Road, Ridge Road, and Kali Drive. The basic problem here is that there has been no real planning of the development of Elderburg AND there has been no active community voice in the government. Two community groups have sprung up partly due to the Kali development fight.... both have had limited success..

Carrolltowne United

Freedom Area Citizen’s Council (FACC)

Currently, the developer (SDC) is only days/weeks away from breaking ground. All legal challenges have been over-ruled.

****My personal opinion on this development is neutral. I would rather see retail or mixed use development in this area, however, doesn’t see the dire consequences that the opponents of the development fear. This does show the need for a concerted review (planning and zoning) of the future of Eldersburg and Liberty Road. ****

What do we want to future of Eldersburg to be? Do we want/need a town center or should we continue to center development along Liberty Road?

On a side note, I attended an info session for the proposed re-development of downtown Columbia and heard the following statement.

"Columbia is turning into a suburb of Washington DC and Eldersburg is turning into a suburb of Columbia."

IS THIS TRUE??

Welcome

Welcome to Eldersburg Today (from rural to suburbia):

In the footsteps of the established Blogger world of Howard County, I wanted to create a venue for citizens to discuss hot topics in the Eldersburg area.

Great Howard County/Columbia Blogs:

Howard County Maryland Blog

Tales of Two Cities

Columbia Compass

Hayduke

Hedgehog Report (Columbia)

HoCo Blog

Eldersburg is in the mist of a major development push, much like but to a lesser extent of the Columbia/Elliott city areas. This development is causing a rift between the pro-development and anti-development forces in the area. Rural vs suburban..

Can our schools support this development?

Is this development inevitable?

Is this development good for the area?

About me: Moved to the area with my family late last year.. still learning the lay of the land so to speak but generally impressed with the people I’ve met and the area. Eldersburg is a great area now and I’m sure will continue to be so far into the future. I am interested in promoting civil discussions and learning about other people’s points of views and hot topics.

I hope to make posts a few times a week and will be updating the look and fell of the site as we get going. Please forgive the crudeness of the site at the moment.