Odenton residents face landfill gamble

Comments made last month by a county councilman have left people in a rural part of Odenton with a difficult decision - do they want to continue to fight a proposed rubble landfill and risk losing, or do they want to accept a change in zoning that would likely clear the way for at least 100 new homes nearby but keep the landfill away.

At a meeting at the end of September, Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville, said he is considering a push that would rezone land the Halle Cos. want to use for the Chesapeake Terrace Rubble Landfill. The rezoning would make it illegal to dump construction debris there, but it would make it OK to build houses.

Residents who live off of rural Patuxent Road have fought the landfill since it was first proposed about 20 years ago, but Mr. Benoit's proposal creates a dilemma.

If they continue the campaign and win, the long-loathed landfill won't be an issue anymore. But if they fight and lose, they could end up with the landfill as they have always feared. And if they decide to abandon their fight and support the rezoning instead, they would have to settle for the reality that houses could be built there, adding traffic to a once-tranquil area.

"We're going through all the pros and cons and are trying to make the most informed decision," said Mike Murphy, president of the Forks of the Patuxent Improvement Association.

There are still unknown variables that will come into play during the process. For example, the type of home and the amount of traffic the new neighborhood would create is unknown, he said.

Mr. Murphy said he could not indicate if people were leaning either way, but said he believes the nearly two-decade-long fight against the landfill has not left anyone with battle fatigue; people are still concerned about the sights, smells, sounds and heavy truck traffic the landfill would create.

"It keeps people charged-up," he said.

Stephen Fleischman, vice president of the company, could not be reached for comment. Mr. Murphy and Mr. Benoit both said they have not heard form anyone from Halle since the possibility of the rezoning was made public a few weeks ago.

And whether Mr. Benoit decides to push for a rezoning is dependent on the citizen support he receives, he said.

"I'm not going to do anything over the objections of the people who live out there," he said.

But if he receives support to rezone the land, it would occur through the county's revision of the General Development Plan, a document that guides new development through the county, he said. Specifically, the land, which is currently zoned rural-agricultural, the only type of zoning that allows rubble landfills, would be turned into a type of low-density residential zoning.

In September, a Maryland Department of the Environment official said Halle has completed the first two of three phases in the landfill permit-application process.

At the earliest, the process could be complete by May 2009. However, if the county rezones the land to bar a landfill the state could not issue a permit.