This year, TheBAYNET.com is offering the grand prize for the Lexington Park business with the best holiday window display, Robin Finnacom announced at a Wednesday, Nov. 10 meeting of the Lexington Park Business and Community Association meeting. The winner will receive a free month of banner advertising and a feature article on our website.
Businesses will be decorating their storefronts beginning the week of Thanksgiving and the winner will be announced at the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department’s annual tree lighting and holiday celebration.
The LPBCA tacked less festive topics at its most recent meeting, where citizens and business owners heard from State Highway Administration representative Bob Rager and St. Mary’s Land Use and Growth Management Director Derick Berlage.
Rager told the group SHA is “about 99 percent done” with both water and sewer projects along Great Mills Rd. and said curb, gutter and sidewalk work would continue as long as temperatures and weather remain mild. He said Chancellor’s Rd. is expected to have traffic on all four lanes by the end of the year.
Finnacom and LPBCA Chairman Mark Pinekenstein asked Rager about removing the Rose’s sign and getting non-working streetlights working, while County Commissioner-elect Todd Morgan and concerned citizens asked about traffic congestion and poorly timed lights along Rt. 235. Rager said he would follow up on the questions and provide responses to specific inquiries.
LUGM’s Berlage gave a presentation about the Lexington Park Development District Master Plan, which is currently in a community outreach phase, seeking the input of citizens and business owners in how to best manage growth in St. Mary’s County. Berlage said he’s often heard residents say, “We don’t want to be another Waldorf.”
Berlage explained, “It’s bad land use that leads to bad traffic,” adding to eliminate highway-oriented sprawl, the County has started incentivizing development in the targeted growth areas. He encouraged the group to consider good practice in design and architecture, an incorporation of green space and better public amenities.
He said the small patch of greenery amid miles of asphalt surrounding the Laurel Glen shopping center, near the K-Mart store, will be a McDonald’s in 6 months. Businesses squeezing into such small spaces will inevitably compound the traffic problem.
Finnacom encouraged participation by what she deemed, “a vested group,” telling them, “We have to be energized and on this like crazy!”
The complete, current Lexington Park DDMP can be viewed by clicking here. Berlage said an update will go to the Planning Commission in fall of 2011 and is expected to be adopted by the County Commissioners in the spring of 2012. Keep up or share your feelings via the Facebook page dedicated to the plan by clicking here.
The ‘let’s just give up on that place’ thinking just cannot be allowed,” Finnacom said.  
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