Council approves Crofton community center lease

Even with a tepid blessing from the County Council last night, plans for a community center and skate park in Crofton remain surrounded by concerns.

The council unanimously approved a $1-a-year, two-decade lease for four acres of county land beside the Crofton library, but stitched fundraising benchmarks and construction oversight into the deal.

"I believe that these amendments would provide (accountability) ... and (an) exit strategy if it is not working," said Fred Schram, chief of the county Department of Central Services.

Plans for the Crofton Regional Community Center coalesced this summer after a Crofton teen died in a gang-related beating. Residents of the 20,000-resident suburban neighborhood called for a safe place for teens and proposed a 35,000-square-foot building with meeting rooms, a dance studio and a gym, plus an adjoining 12,000-square-foot skate park.

While most residents agree that some sort of community center is necessary, the new nonprofit group has been nagged by concerns over its ambitious business plan and fundraising prowess.

"If the point here is to build a really good community center project, trying to shove 10 pounds of it (into) a 5-pound bag is not the way to go," Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville, said at the hearing.

Councilwoman Tricia Johnson, a Davidsonville Republican who represents Crofton, was absent from the meeting because of health problems. But, in comments e-mailed to the council and read aloud at the meeting, she said that "the group has challenges, to say the least."

The lease approved by the six remaining members of the council requires the Crofton Regional Community Center Committee Inc. to raise $2.5 million each year for the next three years, and allows the county to revoke the lease if the group fails to meet fundraising goals for two years in a row. The group also must raise $8 million and present an engineer's detailed cost estimate for the center before the county will grant permission for construction.

The new provisions stem from concerns, presented by County Auditor Teresa Sutherland in September, that the group lacked a business plan and the lease could leave taxpayers on the hook for finishing construction and running the center if the nascent nonprofit group falls apart.

The rec center group's new business plan, dated this month, anticipates $510,000 in annual operating costs and vows that the project will not be reliant on the government.

Art Huseonica, vice chairman of the group's executive committee, said he was enthusiastic about the group's vision coming to pass.

"There's a lot of interest from the community," Huseonica said after the meeting. "I've been told it will happen. It will happen."

Some who live near the site, which is off Reidel Road, have objected to the extensive plans for the relatively small plot of land, particularly to the possibility of noise from the skateboard park.

Council Chairwoman Cathy Vitale, R-Severna Park, asked the group to make sure the neighbors "do not get shafted." She addressed about a dozen teenagers in the back of the council chambers, saying, "Y'all are pretty loud and noisy at the skateboard park at Saw Mill … Obviously, y'all need to be respectful of the neighbors."

The group's leaders said their plans will include a buffer, a fence and any other measures necessary to pacify neighbors.

"We're going to do everything in our power to make it as pleasant for them as possible," said Janet Greenip, the recently retired state senator from Crofton who now heads the community center's executive committee.

One politician said he was optimistic about the community center concept.

"I want to congratulate you guys for seeing a need, and stepping up and trying to meet the demand," Councilman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena, told group representatives during the meeting. "I also think that at the council, we're making this more difficult than it needs to be. We need to get this lease going to get the fundraising going. ... To me, this is a good first step. Someone needs to take the first step."