When Elkridge resident Cathy Hudson sizes up her community, she sees an undersized library, crowded schools, no bike paths, inconsistent sidewalks and too few community centers.

For those reasons, she asked the Howard County Council this week to reject a bill that would accelerate the rate of development along Route 1 by doubling the number of housing units developers are allowed to build there each year.

"Elkridge is in desperate need of additional services," Hudson told the council at a public hearing May 19. "I don't see an end to growth and I ask you how much more do you want to stuff in an already over-stuffed area?"

Hudson was among more than 50 residents, most of whom live in Elkridge, who urged the council to reject the proposal because they fear it would overwhelm roads and schools in their neighborhoods.

Under the bill, which was introduced by County Executive Kenneth Ulman this month, the council would amend the county's Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance to allow the planning department to grant qualifying developers permission to build more housing units along Route 1 than the county normally permits in a given year.

County officials would achieve this by distributing housing allotments set aside for future years.

The facilities ordinance regulates development in areas of the county in which schools and roads have become overcrowded.

The council is slated to vote on the bill June 2.

Revitalization is stated goal

Marsha McLaughlin, director of the county Department of Planning and Zoning, said the bill is intended to support revitalization efforts in the corridor.

Developers have approached the county with promising plans for mixed-use developments incorporating housing, shops, offices and hotels, but were stymied by the limits on annual housing allocations assigned to the Route 1 corridor.

Instead of forcing developers to phase their building plans over many years -- potentially jeopardizing the developer's commitment to the project and their ability to secure financing -- she would prefer to borrow housing allotments from future years to see the projects come to fruition, McLaughlin said.

"We hope that would help us to maintain the momentum in the Route 1 corridor," she told the council May 19.

Double the units

Currently, the county grants developers permission to build 250 housing units in the Route 1 corridor each year.

Under the proposed bill, officials could grant permission for 500 housing units each year by dipping into allocations for future years. No more than 125 future units could be granted to any one project.

McLaughlin told the council that the development plans still would be subject to the public facilities ordinance.

"The intention isn't to allow building to be overly rapid, it's to provide a steady stream," she said in an interview May 20, adding that the county is reviewing four proposed mixed-use projects along the corridor.

Members of the Greater Elkridge Community Association and Elkridge-area PTAs said they worry the bill could result in a building blitz that would overwhelm schools and roads.

Elizabeth Eggleston, who spoke on behalf of the PTAs at Elkridge Elementary School and Elkridge Landing Middle School, told the council that development in her region is already straining the infrastructure and that she predicts that a planned addition onto Elkridge Elementary could be overcrowded shortly after it's completed.

"Those who drive down Route 1 and see only ugly truck depots and motels do not understand our community or its needs," she told the council. "Perhaps they assume Elkridge wants rows of high density housing and shopping centers. We know what our community is all about. What we do need are schools, libraries and community centers."

E-mail Jennifer Broadwater at jbroadwater@patuxent.com.

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