City of Westminster begins annexation process for Ridge Road property

The Westminster Common Council has taken the first steps to annex a property along the west side of Ridge Road in Carroll County.

The council at a Sept. 23 meeting unanimously approved the introduction of a petition from Maryland Homebuilders LLC to annex 2.505 acres into the corporate limits of Westminster. This is the first step in a process that will include input from state and county officials along with resident comments, before it is ultimately up for approval by the Common Council.

“We send the introduction and the resolution to both Carroll County and the Maryland Department of Planning for their feedback, and we give them 60 days [to respond],” Mark A. Depo, the city’s planning director said. “Following that, we schedule a [ Westminster Planning Commission] public hearing for a recommendation, and then back to mayor and council for public hearing as well.”

Maryland Homebuilders, which received the deed for the property in January, is also asking that the city allocate water and sewer service to the property. The property is within the designated future growth area of the city.

“There is a single structure existing at the property that was once in use as a single-family detached dwelling unit with a first-floor home medical office,” city documents state. “However, the structure has been vacant for quite some time.”

The company proposes to rehab the structure and to subdivide the property to develop additional homes, documents state. No subdivision application has been submitted depicting lot layout or number of proposed homes.

“Due to the lack of a subdivision application and unknown information, such as the location of additional lots; effect of required setbacks; size of proposed structures; access to lots; stormwater management requirements; environmental issues; forest conservation requirements, and water and sewer infrastructure, (planning department) staff cannot state how many additional lots may be feasible at the property,” documents state.

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