Centennial Gardens, the highly contentious proposed low-income housing development on Frederick Road in Ellicott City, has been scrapped.
“It?s very good news, because the process through which this project was acquired by the Housing Commission has been questioned,” said Council Member Courtney Watson, D-District 2. “This wasn?t, in the citizens? minds, transparent at all, and it was taxpayers? dollars spent.”
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has directed county housing officials to cancel the project.
The Housing Commission purchased the 2.5 acres for $1.6 million in September and agreed to build the 59-unit Centennial Gardens. The terms of that agreement have expired, allowing Howard to sell the land back to the developer.
Residents have been fighting the plans since last fall, raising suspicions about the deal between the Housing Commission and the developer and the plan for a high-density development in the area.
“Density and compatibility were always the issue,” said Patrick Crowe, a member of residents? group Friends of Font Hill, adding that Ulman “sees this is the right decision for the community.”
Friends of Font Hill President John Lederer said the group was “cautiously optimistic” about the property. The Font Hill neighborhood is next to the proposed development.
The Housing Commission has the authority to build affordable housing on commercially zoned land, and the property iszoned B-2 commercial district. If the land is resold back to developers, they could build anything B-2 District allows, such as retail, restaurants or hotels.
Developer Donald Reuwer Jr., of Land Design and Development Inc., said Howard acted in “bad-faith negotiation of the contract.”
“They signed an agreement, and then they welched on the agreement with a new administration,” he said. “We spent an awful lot of money on that project.”
Developers spent $600,000 to move the previous landowner to a new house, another couple hundred thousand on engineering, as well as money on architecture and legal fees, he said.
