Officials want to clean up gritty Boomtown

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More Cooperation Needed - 2008-12-18 21:53:18

I am the Property Manager of Bill's North Odenton Plaza, where the recent shootings took place. My family's shopping center is home to a number of popular businesses including several restaurants, a dry cleaner, a laundromat, a nail salon, a beauty salon, and a braiding salon. These types of respected businesses, and there are many of them in Odenton, should not suffer from guilt-by-association with the bad businesses in the area. Unfortunately, when some businesses go bad, other good businesses do suffer. We have one bad tenant, The Traffic Bar. We have been trying since before the shootings to address the problems caused by The Traffic Bar with the Anne Arundel County Liquor Board, but our concerns continue to fall on deaf ears. Since the shootings, the County Police conducted a survey of police incidents at The Traffic Bar and sent a report to the Liquor Board, complete with police call and crime data, asking that they take appropriate action against The Traffic Bar. In the Police Department's words, "The results of the survey indicated that the clientele of [The Traffic Bar] has a disturbing propensity toward violent acts.? The Board's lawyer, Sara H. Arthur, replied by saying that the information provided by the police was insufficient for the board to take action. We cannot imagine what more needs to happen for them to become willing to act. Thus, we have been forced to take the longer, usually-tougher path of seeking action through the courts rather than continuing to ask the Liquor Board for help, only to have their lawyers reply with various reasons for why they are unable to address the issues. From this frustrating experience, I understand and agree with Ted Heazlit's previous comments regarding the lack of enforcement of regulations that are currently on the books. I believe that if our concerns were met with action instead of excuses, crimes like the shooting that occurred in our parking lot could be prevented, and our town would be a better place.

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William Chewning, Jr. - Odenton, MD - Karma: Bad

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The 175 Expansion Problem - 2008-12-18 21:49:00

Another major obstacle for property owners who seek to make positive change is the uncertainty of the MD Rt. 175 expansion. The State Highway Administration was supposed to make their final recommendation this fall on which of their six expansion options should be implemented. Unfortunately, the SHA failed to make their recommendation on schedule, and SHA Project Manager Nicole Washington tells me that she now hopes the recommendation can be made by the end of 2009, but even that may not be possible. This uncertainty causes improvement and progress in the area to stand still because businesses like ours could be either entirely untouched, or paved over completely, depending on which alternative is recommended, approved, and ultimately implemented. If we knew what was to come from these looming plans of eminent domain, we could make informed decisions as how best to improve our properties. However, we cannot invest hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on rejuvenating or rebuilding until and unless we know if the road is going to run through our property a few years down the line. Many of us in Odenton may differ in our thoughts about what's gone wrong, who is to blame, and how we can address our town's problems, but all of us who are posting replies to this article are concerned about what's best for Odenton's future. I welcome readers to contact me personally at chewningproperties@comcast.net with any concerns, suggestions, or updates regarding community meetings about Odenton's improvement.

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William Chewning, Jr. - Odenton, MD - Karma: Bad

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Boomtown dilemma - 2008-12-18 09:36:24

I have lived in Seven Oaks for 6 years. I have written many articles to the newspapers and to politicians regarding the problems in Boomtown. It appears that what little zoning ordinances are on record are certainly never enforced. Now, BRAC enters the picture! We must not let the BRAC planners and developers see this armpit of neglected businesses on a main thoroughfare, or they may change their mind and MD and AA County would lose new development opportunities. Everyone has avoided the Boomtown dilemma. I hope something changes that may provoke new business and growth in this eyesore in the County

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Ted Heazlit - Odenton, MD - Karma: Bad

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boomtown - 2008-12-17 18:57:08

i work in the area. what a hell zone it is. lots of crime,and with pioneer city an meade village,the police have there work cut out for them. this place needs a remodel. but i think the bussinesses that are worthy and have good reputations should have a chance at the new redevelopement. lets face it this is a place in walking distance from less fortunate to go to have a drink,talk and walk home. its a typical working man environment bar area with a couple of good pizza places. so you just cant get rid of a neighborhood,but you definetly can make it better,right now its a eye sore,and i feel bad for the county police,advil

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joe Addivinola - pasadena, MD - Karma: Bad

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THE CAT MAN - 2008-12-17 15:37:04

It WAS ALL SO NICE of our County Executive, John Leopold to WASTE the citizens of Anne Arundel County's tax dollars for him to make the MUCH Publicized visit to the troubled, and forgotten areas of our county. I ONLY wonder HOW MUCH his visit cost the Anne Arundel County Taxpayers. How many uniformed police officers were there to accompany him on his visit? What problems were solved as a result of his visit? What will change in the area because of his visit? NOTHING! If he does not feel safe to travel to this area........in the light of day, I wonder why he FEELS NO NEED to help the people who LIVE in this area - Maybe they would appreciate some extra security. (Oh! my bad, that would require some budget spending outside of his budget WASTING. It?s all a big pile of Bull. If he has his eyes on the Governor seat he can forget it. I for one ? am fed of with him. It make me so angry that we as Anne Arundel County resident are FORCED to pay for the Anne Arundel County Channel on our cable bills....... When you turn the AA channel on all you see are pictures of HIS CAT. What a WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS. BY the Way I hate CATS.

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Jamie Hancock - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral