Parcel to feature 72 new homes in White Plains neighborhood

In its newly approved configuration, a new section of the Highlands Neighborhood in White Plains will feature 72 three-bedroom townhouse units.

At their Oct. 7 meeting of the Charles County Planning Commission, the matter of parcel “J” of the Highlands Neighborhood, which includes 30.1 acres of land off of the north side of St. Charles Parkway in the Wooded Glen neighborhood, was on the agenda.

The neighborhood is accessed via Newport Circle off of St. Charles Parkway and is included within the Villages of Wooden Glen and Piney Reach Master Plan for the St. Charles planned unit development, according to a staff report.

The plan for the neighborhood states that, on average, there will be no more than four units within a townhouse building or structure. In no case will there be more than six dwelling units contained in a townhouse structure.

The project provides for 180 parking spaces. This accounts for 54 structured parking spaces within the garage of the townhomes and 126 paved parking spaces.

Jeffrey Bossart, a planning commission member, asked, “Were there considerations taken into effect for potential in traffic uptick?”

Andrew Vail, an engineer representing the project, said that St. Charles Parkway was designed for Docket 90 and that the neighborhood will feature a stop sign and new traffic signal, pending review by the State Highway Administration.

The development will not be required to have a secondary point of access as it generates less than 1,000 trips a day.

The county code states, “Any public road providing the sole access to a development, or a portion thereof, shall not be designed to exceed 1,000 trips per day. Any development generating more than 1,000 trips per day shall be required to have a secondary point of access.”

However, the development is expected to satisfy the secondary point of access regardless because two connections to St. Charles Parkway are planned.

The attending planning commission members voted 5-0 to approve the plan as it was presented.