preserving the quality of life in Olney, Maryland

The Development on Freeman/Pulte Property is called The Reserve at Fair Hill

The Freeman/Pulte property is a 334-acre site on Wickham Road directly north of Norbeck Grove.  Previously, this parcel of land has been called the "Freeman property" since it was owned by the Freeman family.  In October 2003, it was purchased by Pulte.  It is currently zoned Rural Neighborhood Cluster (RNC), with a density of between .2 and .4 units per acre, depending on the type of development.  This would yield 66 to 133 homes on the site. 

On July 14, 2005 the Planning Board approved the site plan submitted by Pulte Homes with minor changes.  Click here to see the site plan.  There will be 133 single-family dwelling units including 20 MPDUs.  The MPDUs will be duplexes.  Click here to see a picture of the proposed duplex.

Background on the Freeman Property

The Freeman Property is within the Upper Rock Creek Master Plan area which was recently revised.  The revision process begins with the Department of Park & Planning, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, which develops a draft plan, which then goes before the Planning Board (appointed by the County Executive), which then sends the plan to the County Council for their approval. The plan was sent to the Council late this past summer.

At about the time the plan was being sent to the Council, a developer stepped forward with plans for the Freeman property, essentially by-passing Park & Planning's master plan review process. The developer, Pulte/Del Webb, proposed a 716 home community for active senior adults (i.e., at least one homeowner must be age 55 or over, and no resident children under 19 allowed), vastly exceeding the recommendations of the Park & Planning staff and the Planning Board.

Development on this scale would have devastating effects on the environment. The Freeman property contains the headwaters of the Upper Rock Creek, currently a pristine Class III stream. Studies have shown that development that results in a high level of imperviousness (i.e., places where rainwater cannot absorb into the ground, such as roads, driveways, homes, sidewalks, etc.) results in the degradation of streams. The recommendations of the Park & Planning staff were designed to cap the imperviousness at a safe level.

At an October 21, 2003 meeting attended by hundreds of Olney residents, the County Council wisely sent the Pulte/Del Webb proposal back to Park & Planning for review. Pulte/Del Webb revised their plan down to 585 senior active adult homes. Nevertheless, the Planning Board rejected the idea by a 4-1 vote and stood by their original zoning recommendation.

That recommendation from Park & Planning went back to the County Council, and was considered by the Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee. The PHED Committee (composed of Council members Floreen, Praisner, and Silverman) upheld the Planning Board's recommendation by a 3-0 vote in mid-January.  In addition, they proposed adding a Special Protection Area status to portions of the Upper Rock Creek to guard against overdevelopment.  On February 24, 2004 the full Council voted to uphold the density recommended by Park & Planning, permitting at most 133 homes (including MPDUs) on the property.