Simmers Property Still Faces Opposition

James Rada Jr.

Thurmont residents are still opposing the plan to annex 16 acres of the Simmers property into the town. Nearly 8 acres of the 24.5-acre property at 304 Apples Church Road is already within the town limits. Residents filled the town meeting room during a recent planning and zoning commission meeting to present an opposing view to the development plan that Daniel Cross, of Cross and Company, presented to the commission.

He had tried to have the property annexed in 2022, but citizen opposition led to putting the decision to annex the property on a referendum vote, where it was voted down in 2023.

The new project, called Albert Meadows, proposes a mix of housing styles, including a 60-bed senior assisted living center and 35 two-story villas for seniors with primary living on the ground floor. It would also include 11 single-family homes and 54 townhouses. Cross presented the new plan to the Thurmont Mayor and Commissioners late last year.

“We still are providing senior independent and senior-assisted living,” Cross said during the planning and zoning meeting. “We still have family housing because there is a crying need for new students for your schools.”

Per state law, the mayor and commissioners passed the proposal on to the Thurmont Planning and Zoning Commission for review and recommendation.

Although the new plan calls for less-dense housing on the property than originally proposed with the failed annexation, a large group of residents still opposes it. Their major concerns seem to be how much the town infrastructure improvements to support the development would cost taxpayers and the additional traffic the development might generate.

The portion of the property already within the town limits is zoned for high-density residential use, which indicates that the town sees itself growing in that area. The question is how much growth will it be. Cross cited the 2010 town master plan and other documents that support that the town needs growth.

“The Thurmont Master Plan recommends against further farmland preservation within the municipal growth area. The Frederick County plan designates the Simmers property as an area for high-density residential growth,” Cross said.

Despite the proposal aligning with local, county, and state planning goals and recommendations that had already been approved, most of the residents who attended don’t want more homes on that side of town.

Louise Schafer said that extending Luther Drive and Easy Street in the Albert Courts community to Albert Meadows would bring more traffic into Albert Courts, which she doesn’t believe can handle it.

Ashley Minso said the proposed annexation could “lead to a very dangerous precedent for this county” of changing agricultural zoning for development purposes.

The residents who spoke in support of the project saw it as a way to allow the town to grow and increase its tax base, which would help the town avoid tax increases to maintain the town.

Jan Guillory liked the senior-living aspect of the project. “I like the fact that it’s intergenerational living. I think there is some need for something for the elderly,” she said.

The planning and zoning commission will hold a public hearing on the annexation petition on March 27.