Councilman considers push to rezone potential landfill land

One county councilman is considering using the county's General Development Plan to prevent a controversial landfill from being built in Odenton.

County Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville, is considering a push to rezone land eyed for the Chesapeake Terrace Rubble Landfill.

The change could make it possible to build new homes, but not to make a final resting space for old building materials and concrete, he said during the Greater Odenton Improvement Association meeting last week.

The rubble landfill has been planned by National Waste Managers and Silver Spring-based Halle Cos. for at least 15 years, and has been a point of contention with people who would live near it. When Mr. Benoit announced his possible plan Wednesday, he was applauded and cheered by the approximately 35 people in attendance.

Currently the land is zoned rural-agricultural, a designation that allows for farming and rubble landfills, among other things. However, if the land was rezoned to residential, R1, in the General Development Plan revision process, the lot could be used for about 400 homes, but not for a landfill, Mr. Benoit said.

"It would be vehicular traffic rather than dump trucks full of drywall and rocks. Personally, I find that preferable," he said.

Representatives from Halle did not return calls for comment. Mr. Benoit said he expects the company to oppose a rezoning.

The General Development Plan revision is a once in every 10 years process through which county administrators evaluate the way land in the county is used.

In some cases, zoning on pieces of property is changed, altering what can and cannot be built on a property. Developers scrutinize revisions, trying to determine whey they can build where, what properties could be turned into the new home for million-dollar projects and which ones could become relatively worthless. Theoretically, this process could turn a rural piece of farmland into the site of a thousand new houses, or a big-box store.

Halle representatives first filed paperwork for a permit to open the landfill in 1993 but have not yet received the state's blessing, said Horacio Tablada, the director of waste management for Maryland Department of the Environment.

The company has completed the first two of three parts of the application process. Usually it only takes three years to complete all three parts. The long delay is due, in part, to legal battles with the county and nearby residents. One hearing about the landfill drew around 500 interested people, Mr. Tablada said.

Currently, the landfill could be opened only under a special exception that was issued by the county. However, that special exception will expire soon, he said.

Mr. Benoit said that if the county were to block the landfill by rezoning the property, it would be best to do so before the state issues a rubble landfill permit.

If Halle gets the correct paperwork before the land is rezoned, it would be tough for the county to change anything; the county would have essentially blocked the landowner from using his property in a legal and potentially profitable way, Mr. Benoit said.

"His case becomes very strong once he gets the permit," Mr. Benoit said.

Mr. Tablada estimates that a permit could be issued in May 2009, at the earliest. The state still has to review the finer points of the landfill's engineering - details such as road design and specifications for the liner.