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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Hearing Examiner Continues Conditional Use Hearing for 26 Age-Restricted Adult Housing Units on Triadelphia Road (June 24, 2026)

County Council & Boards — Wednesday, June 24, 2026

BodyHoward County, Maryland

SessionCounty Council & Boards

DateWednesday, June 24, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 4:02:41

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Webinar is being recorded and summarized.

0:03

All right, good evening, everybody.

0:05

It is the 24th of June.

0:07

We are here for BA 2608 C, a request by ESC Tridelphia LLC for the Twig property for an age-restricted adult housing facility of 26 single family detached homes.

0:28

Mr.

0:28

Erskine, are you ready to proceed?

0:30

Yes, I am.

0:31

All right.

0:32

Go ahead, your case.

0:35

Yes, Your Honor.

0:36

William Erskine on behalf of ESC Tridelphia Road.

0:40

Your Honor, we're here this evening.

0:41

I say your Honor, Madam Hearing Examiner.

0:44

Do you prefer your Honor?

0:45

I prefer anything polite.

0:47

Okay.

0:49

We're here on a conditional use for age restricted adult housing.

0:53

And obviously, the we have we bear the burden of establishing that we satisfy criteria found in the zoning regulations under Section 131.

1:08

And there are, as you know, there are general criteria for approval and there are special criteria for approval.

1:15

And in Madam Hearing Zammer, the evidence that you'll hear from petitioners' witnesses tonight will establish clearly that all of those criteria are satisfied.

1:30

This is not a site development plan.

1:33

It's not a we're not applying for a groundwater discharge permit.

1:38

We're here on zoning matters.

1:41

We're not here on any of the matters that take place later in the development approval process.

1:46

Should we be so fortunate as to be approved at the end of this hearing?

1:53

Obviously, we'll have to go through many more approvals in front of various agencies.

2:01

So just briefly about the the TWIG property.

2:04

It is 26 acres in size, uh, was being proposed.

2:08

I'm sorry, 26.5 acres net in size.

2:11

And what's being proposed is 26 age restricted adult housing units in a set in a single family detached form, just like all of the surrounding properties.

2:25

This property is zoned RR, so are all the other properties.

2:31

The density for the for the property is the lowest density for conditional use age restricted adult housing.

2:44

It's it's one unit per uh net acre.

2:48

And I I think that's understandable.

2:50

We're we're in the rural west, and the density, as the council has decided in their legislative wisdom, uh one unit per net acre is an appropriate density for the rural west.

3:06

Uh densities can run as high as 35 units per acre, depending on what zoning district you're in.

3:15

In addition, uh the petition proposes a community center, 550 square foot community center.

3:23

It proposes to access Tridelphia Road about half mile east of Rox uh Roscom.

3:33

Is it Roskoppen?

3:35

Rosemary, that's it.

3:36

Rosemary uh Road Erlane.

3:40

And it is proposed to be served, Madam Hearing Examiner, by a 24-foot wide private road that initially extended very deep into the property and ended in a cul-de-sac.

3:56

And that design had 12 units on on the left side as you go in and and I think it was 14 units on the right.

4:07

On the on the left side as you entered, there was also the community center, but it was all the way in the back.

4:12

Um that that's a very common subdivision style.

4:19

In fact, directly across the street on uh Lakeway Drive, that's exactly how they did it.

4:28

You know, one road straight back, houses on each side.

4:31

Interestingly, that community across the street has the exact same density as our proposal.

4:38

One dwelling unit, but it's per gross acre.

4:42

And it the difference is it has zero open space.

4:46

Now, obviously, that community was done decades ago, so they have different standards back then.

4:51

We're we're applying the new and preferred standard, same same density as across the street, but ours is clustered, so it's closer together.

5:00

So it's closer together.

5:04

As I was mentioning about the street, the design advisory panel had a lot of comments on that initial design.

5:11

And as a result of that, we redesigned it and came back for a second time.

5:18

Um which I would characterize it as they were very positive about the revised design.

5:24

By shortening the road, and by using uh two crossroads, which actually is for use in common driveways, we're able to greatly shorten the uh the length of the road, and as a result, we were able to greatly increase the uh amount of open space.

5:45

So it went from like 50, which as you're aware is the minimum required, and now it's at 72.5.

5:52

Over 19 acres is uh in open space, much of that forested and uh the subject to forest uh conservation easements.

6:03

Um you'll hear from Mr.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Zoning And Land Use██████████████████████████████████████38%

Transportation Safety█████████████████████21%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████████12%

Affordable Housing██████6%

Environmental Protection██████6%

Procedural█████5%

Water And Wastewater Management████4%

Historic Preservation███3%

Parks and Recreation██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Hearing Examiner Continues Conditional Use Hearing for 26 Age-Restricted Adult Housing Units on Triadelphia Road (June 24, 2026)

The Howard County Hearing Examiner (Joyce Nichols) convened a hybrid hearing on June 24, 2026, at 5:30 pm to consider Case BA 26‑008C – ESC Triadelphia Road, LLC's conditional use petition for 26 age-restricted adult housing (ARAH) units on the 26.5‑acre Twig property at 12668 Triadelphia Road, Ellicott City. The petitioner presented three witnesses (developer, civil engineer, traffic engineer) in support. Susan Eitnyier, an attorney representing her husband (a neighboring property owner), cross-examined witnesses. The hearing was continued to July 14, 2026 at 4:00 pm for the opponent's case. No votes were taken.

Discussion Items

Petitioner's Opening Statement (William Erskine): Asserted the proposal satisfies all general and specific criteria under Section 131 of the zoning regulations. The 26 units (one per net acre) represent the lowest density allowed for ARAH. The design was revised after Design Advisory Panel (DAP) feedback to increase open space from 50 % to 72.5 % (19.36 acres). Units are single-family detached homes in a condominium regime, fronting Triadelphia Road with 30‑foot spacing along the frontage. Shared water and multi-use septic systems are proposed, with final design and MDE approvals to come later. Covenants enforcing age restrictions are perpetual.
Jason Van Kirk (Regional Partner, Elm Street Development): Testified that the project meets HOCO by Design General Plan policies DN9 and DN10, provides a lower‑maintenance housing option for 55+ residents, and preserves rural character through clustering and extensive open space. The peak projected trip generation is 15 AM and 15 PM trips (based on ITE manual). Parking supply (115 spaces) exceeds the 57‑space minimum. Universal design features will be included. He stated that the development will not create adverse noise, dust, or lighting impacts beyond typical residential construction, and that safe ingress/egress is achievable without auxiliary lanes.
David Thompson (Project Manager, Benchmark Engineering): Confirmed the site's 12.6 acres of existing forest, 4 acres of clearing, and forest conservation obligation (1 acre planted on site). He described the site distance analysis: based on an 85th‑percentile speed of 34 mph eastbound and 35 mph westbound, intersection sight distance of 375 ft (eastbound) and 334 ft (westbound) can be achieved with proposed grading. He testified that the submerged gravel wetland will manage stormwater quality and quantity, and that all bulk setbacks are satisfied.
Mark Keeley (Senior Project Manager, Traffic Concepts Inc.): Conducted a speed study on July 22, 2025 (10:30 am–12:00 noon) and a crash history analysis (2020–2026) for Triadelphia Road from Frederick Road to Folly Quarter Road. The road's severity index averaged about 5 with no fatalities. He stated that due to low trip generation and adequate sight distance, auxiliary lanes are not warranted. The three studied intersections (Triadelphia at Folly Quarter, Rosemary Lane, and Lakeway Drive) will continue to operate at Level of Service A after development.
Cross‑Examination by Susan Eitnyier: Challenged the representative nature of the July speed study (off‑peak, no school buses) and asked whether higher actual speeds could affect safety. She questioned the spacing between proposed homes (30 ft, 20 ft, 15 ft) compared to existing houses on Triadelphia Road (40‑50 ft apart). She pressed on the lack of analysis of potential water‑well impacts on neighboring properties, the absence of a full traffic study, and the speculative nature of the shared water/septic design. She noted that the renderings show mature trees that will take years to grow. She also questioned the moderate‑income housing fee‑in‑lieu and the lack of analysis on groundwater flow changes from pond removal.
Petitioner's Rebuttal: Mr. Van Kirk clarified that the front‑lot spacing is 30 ft, and that clustering is incentivized by county regulations to preserve open space. Mr. Thompson emphasized that any future MDE permit limit (e.g., 20 units) would supersede the conditional use approval. Mr. Keeley defended the speed study methodology, stating off‑peak data best captures free‑flow speeds.

Key Outcomes

The hearing examiner concluded the petitioner's case‑in‑chief and continued the hearing to July 14, 2026 at 4:00 pm at the same location for the opponent's case (testimony and evidence). No decision or vote was taken.
Continuation dates (if needed) were also reserved for July 16, 2026 at 5:30 pm.

Meeting Transcript

Webinar is being recorded and summarized. All right, good evening, everybody. It is the 24th of June. We are here for BA 2608 C, a request by ESC Tridelphia LLC for the Twig property for an age-restricted adult housing facility of 26 single family detached homes. Mr. Erskine, are you ready to proceed? Yes, I am. All right. Go ahead, your case. Yes, Your Honor. William Erskine on behalf of ESC Tridelphia Road. Your Honor, we're here this evening. I say your Honor, Madam Hearing Examiner. Do you prefer your Honor? I prefer anything polite. Okay. We're here on a conditional use for age restricted adult housing. And obviously, the we have we bear the burden of establishing that we satisfy criteria found in the zoning regulations under Section 131. And there are, as you know, there are general criteria for approval and there are special criteria for approval. And in Madam Hearing Zammer, the evidence that you'll hear from petitioners' witnesses tonight will establish clearly that all of those criteria are satisfied. This is not a site development plan. It's not a we're not applying for a groundwater discharge permit. We're here on zoning matters. We're not here on any of the matters that take place later in the development approval process. Should we be so fortunate as to be approved at the end of this hearing? Obviously, we'll have to go through many more approvals in front of various agencies. So just briefly about the the TWIG property. It is 26 acres in size, uh, was being proposed. I'm sorry, 26.5 acres net in size. And what's being proposed is 26 age restricted adult housing units in a set in a single family detached form, just like all of the surrounding properties. This property is zoned RR, so are all the other properties. The density for the for the property is the lowest density for conditional use age restricted adult housing. It's it's one unit per uh net acre. And I I think that's understandable. We're we're in the rural west, and the density, as the council has decided in their legislative wisdom, uh one unit per net acre is an appropriate density for the rural west. Uh densities can run as high as 35 units per acre, depending on what zoning district you're in. In addition, uh the petition proposes a community center, 550 square foot community center. It proposes to access Tridelphia Road about half mile east of Rox uh Roscom. Is it Roskoppen? Rosemary, that's it. Rosemary uh Road Erlane. And it is proposed to be served, Madam Hearing Examiner, by a 24-foot wide private road that initially extended very deep into the property and ended in a cul-de-sac. And that design had 12 units on on the left side as you go in and and I think it was 14 units on the right. On the on the left side as you entered, there was also the community center, but it was all the way in the back. Um that that's a very common subdivision style. In fact, directly across the street on uh Lakeway Drive, that's exactly how they did it. You know, one road straight back, houses on each side. Interestingly, that community across the street has the exact same density as our proposal. One dwelling unit, but it's per gross acre. And it the difference is it has zero open space.

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