Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley’s proposed land swap for the public works facility has hit a major snag. According to a memo from the Mayor to the City Council and the Task Force Chair, Jared Littmann obtained by Eye On Annapolis, a review by the Maryland Department of the Environment indicates that the soil under the current site on Spa Road is far more contaminated than expected.
In his memo, the Mayor is asking for the Task Force to pause all activity until January while the Council makes a decision on how to proceed. The Council only has two more meetings this year.
According to the MDE continued use of the property as athletic fields would require minimal remediation and minimal cost. However, to facilitate the housing that the developer had hoped to build would require removal of at least 15′ of the existing soil at a cost well in excess of the $500,000 proposed in the Mayor’s land swap.
The land swap was controversial from the start. The Mayor wanted to give the current public works land and the Weems-Whalen athletic fields to a developer to build houses. In return, the developer was to purchase the land adjacent to the American Legion on Forest Drive and provide the City an agreed upon difference in value. The City would then construct the new public works facility along Forest Drive. The plan also included the building of two bridges over Forest Drive and Spa Road to facilitate the connection of bike and walking paths. Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson asked that a Task Force be established to study the proposal which was to issue a final report in December. You can see the work of the task force here.
