A long-planned redevelopment of a bi-county golf course is expected to move a little closer to completion today when the Montgomery County Council rubber-stamps the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission's five-year Capital Improvements Program budget.
The county will pay $126,000 over the next three years to review and inspect the design and redevelopment of the Gunpowder Golf Course, located in Fairland Recreational Park in the southeast portion of the county. Part of the course lies in adjacent Prince George's County.
The redevelopment will upgrade and expand the existing course, which was built in 1956. According to county documents, the 60-acre course will be expanded to about 100 acres. The developer, Maryland Land Development, will add a driving range and other amenities.
The company is footing the $8 million bill, and will operate the course under a 40-year lease with the park and planning commission.
Residential developer Artery/Ryland Fairland LLC concurrently will build a community of up to 516 homes surrounding the course on what is mostly vacant land, according to Senior Legislative Analyst Marlene L. Michaelson and county documents. Most of those homes will be in Montgomery County.
The redevelopment of the golf course, which used to be mined for sand and gravel, will also have environmental benefits by reducing sediment runoff into a nearby stream.
While the project was added to the Capital Improvements Program budget this month, county officials stress it is not a new project. The redevelopment was recommended in the 1997 Fairland Master Plan, which also recommended rezoning the property for a lower density of residential development.
"Until they got the rezoning, there was no project," Michaelson said. The county rezoned the property in late April.
According to county documents, delivery is planned for 2008. But bi-county approval is needed before construction can begin.
And even if the go-ahead is given from the counties, construction will not begin until a landfill on what will be part of the golf course that was used for illegal dumping is cleaned and capped, Michaelson said.
In what amounts to a land-swap with Artery/Ryland, the county will purchase the parcel in exchange for the donation of a cleaner site for a planned elementary school.
Source: The Daily Record (Baltimore)