Townhouses

A fire damaged several townhouses Thursday morning in the Capital Heights development in Martinsburg, a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor said. Numerous fire companies were called to the scene when the fire was reported at about 3 a.m., the supervisor said. Firefighters were leaving the area by 8:30 a.m. Further details were not immediately available. 

Federal money would fund new townhouses By STACEY DANZUSO / Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Franklin County Board of Commissioners Thursday approved an application for federal funds to build 10 new townhouses in Washington Township to augment low-income housing options in the county. Phil Wolgemuth, a planner with the Franklin County Planning Commission, said the application for $500,000 would be submitted today to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which administers the federal grants.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A decision by the Washington Township Planning Commission this week to recommend denial of a 110-unit townhouse project on Welty Road won't stop construction of at least some homes on the tract, its owner said Wednesday. Developer Ted Snowberger had asked the township to rezone nearly 19 acres on what was once part of the Hollengreen Farm to multi-family residential. He said Wednesday he is changing his request to single-family zoning or R-1. The Washington Township Supervisors will hold a public hearing on Snowberger's request on Aug. 2, said Jerry Zeigler, township zoning enforcement officer.

The applicant was the only party to testify Tuesday evening during a public hearing on Washco Developments Inc.'s request to increase the percentage of commercial use in the Rosewood Village development off Robinwood Drive. The session, held in the County Administration Building in Hagerstown, was a joint public hearing between the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the county Planning Commission. Members of both boards asked the applicant questions, but took no vote on the proposal.

By JULIE E. GREENE Staff Writer Plans for construction of almost 50 townhouses and several single-family homes will be presented for approval at today's Hagerstown Planning Commission meeting. Construction on the first six of 80 townhouses off Edgewood Drive should begin by the end of March, according to the developer. The Hagerstown Planning Commission in January gave The Churchey Group site plan approval for 80 single-story, brick townhouses, said Deborah Everhart, the city's zoning administrator.

The Washington County Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve a site plan for a 166-unit residential development off Maugans Avenue. County Planner S.T. Goodrich said the development, called Seneca Ridge, includes 73-single-family homes and 93 townhouses on 52 acres across the street from Maugansville Elementary School. The development is proposed by FB-One Limited Partnership. The development is expected to bring in about 72 students who would attend Maugansville Elementary School, Western Heights Middle School and North Hagerstown High School.

A plan to build apartment buildings and townhouses on a parking lot next to Hagerstown's Pangborn Park is opposed by all five City Council members, who would ultimately decide whether to approve the proposed development. The council has authority over the plan because the developers are seeking a special zoning designation, called a Planned Unit Development (PUD), for the project. Plans from the developers, Pangborn Park Limited Partnership, reviewed last week by the City Planning Commission, showed 28 townhouses along Security Road and Pangborn Boulevard, plus another 60 units in 10 three-story apartment buildings behind the townhouses.

shappell@herald-mail.com SMITHSBURG - A Washington County resident who owns property near the Whispering Hills housing development approached council members recently with an informal request to have part of her property annexed by the town for the sake of building 50 townhouses. Two of the council members said at Tuesday night's meeting they thought such development would hurt Smithsburg. Property owner Martha Fleming, real estate broker Barbara Axline and attorney William Wantz asked the mayor and council at an Aug. 26 work session to consider annexing 4.42 acres of land, currently under county jurisdiction, on Cave Hill Road, Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers said.

The site plan for the first phase of a 520-unit housing development on Robinwood Drive was approved by the Washington County Planning Commission during a meeting Monday. Construction is slated to begin later this year. The first phase of Rosewood Village, which is adjacent to Hagerstown Community College, includes 77 townhouses and 42 elderly living units, according to Timothy Lung, senior planner for the county. Approval of the first phase was contingent on the developer drawing up plans for a temporary school shelter near the entrance of John F. Kennedy Drive.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - More than 600 new residential building lots were approved in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in 1998, and some officials are calling for a review of how new housing developments are regulated. [cont. from news page ] In Berkeley County, 377 new lots for home construction were approved last year, according to an annual report from the Berkeley County Planning Commission. The lots are equal to 352 acres. The commission's annual report was completed on Jan. 14. Since then another 439 lots on 742 acres have been approved, according to Sherry Cunningham, administrative secretary for the Planning Commission.

A 60-unit town-house development planned in Washington Township, Pa., came under fire Monday from three residents and some members of the township planning commission. Concerns included crime, nearby property values, safety for children, play areas, traffic and overcrowding schools. Ultimately, the Washington Township Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend the township supervisors approve the plan. The Washington Township Supervisors are expected to consider final approval for New Forge Crossing in coming weeks.

A town house development near Walmart in Rouzerville, Pa., will be reviewed Monday, Aug. 13, at a Washington Township (Pa.) Planning Commission meeting. The developers of New Forge Crossing are seeking final approval for 60 town houses for low- to moderate-income residents. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency approved $2 million in funding and another $1 million in tax credits for Woda Group LLC. The planning commission is expected to make recommendations to the Washington Township Supervisors, who will make the final determination locally about the proposal.

A townhouse project planned for land near Walmart and Lowe's could become the largest new development for Washington Township, Pa., since the economy stalled. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency approved $2 million in funding and another $1 million in tax credits for the Woda Group LLC, according to a news release from the agency. The developer of New Forge Crossing is seeking to create 60 townhouse units of various sizes and layouts, township planner Clint Rock said Monday.

State fire authorities have charged an 18-year-old man with starting a fire New Year's Day on Maple Leaf Court in Hagerstown. Jordan Caleb Timberlake, 18, has been charged with malicious burning, malicious destruction of property and reckless endangerment, the Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal said in a news release. He was taken into custody without incident Thursday and is being held on $15,000 bond, fire marshals said. Timberlake allegedly started the fire when he was playing with a lighter in the Maple Leaf Court townhouse, rented by his grandmother Betty Hartman, fire marhsals said.

A fire that started News Year's Day in a Halfway townhouse caused $55,000 in damages to the structure and $5,000 in damages to the contents, according to state fire officials. The blaze started at about 2 p.m. Sunday in the second-floor bedroom of the townhouse at 17420 Maple Leaf Court, according to a news release from the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. The cause of the fire, which took 36 firefighters about 25 minutes to bring under control, was being investigated. A "civilian" suffered small burns to the right hand and arm while attempting to extinguish the fire, but that person refused medical attention, the fire marshal's office said.

The applicant was the only party to testify Tuesday evening during a public hearing on Washco Developments Inc.'s request to increase the percentage of commercial use in the Rosewood Village development off Robinwood Drive. The session, held in the County Administration Building in Hagerstown, was a joint public hearing between the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the county Planning Commission. Members of both boards asked the applicant questions, but took no vote on the proposal.

A fire damaged several townhouses Thursday morning in the Capital Heights development in Martinsburg, a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor said. Numerous fire companies were called to the scene when the fire was reported at about 3 a.m., the supervisor said. Firefighters were leaving the area by 8:30 a.m. Further details were not immediately available. 

An improperly discarded cigarette was the preliminary cause of a fire that damaged a home Friday night at 11315 Grouse Lane east of Hagerstown, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. The fire started at about 11:19 p.m. on the rear deck of the two-story townhouse, according to a fire marshal's office news release. The damage was estimated at roughly $55,000 to the structure and $5,000 to the contents. Thirty-nine firefighters took about 25 minutes to control the blaze, the fire marshal's office said.

Plans for 116 town homes in the Falling Waters, W.Va., area were advanced by the Berkeley County Planning Commission Monday night. Developed by Panhandle Homes of Berkeley County, the Brookfield subdivision town-house project on 18.3 acres off Broad Lane has attracted buyers from the Washington D.C., area, said Lyn Marsh Hansen of Panhandle Homes. Panhandle Homes sold the lots in Brookfield to Ryan Homes, which is building the town houses, Hansen said. While development of single-family homes in the subdivision continues, Hansen said the demand for town-home lots seems to be pretty strong there.

BUNKER HILL, W.Va. -- A 48-year-old woman was carried from a burning town house south of Inwood, W.Va., early Thursday by two men who saw the flames as they were driving by on Winchester Avenue, police said. Patricia "Pat" Miller, 48, was in critical but stable condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore on Friday evening, according to a hospital spokesman. Police previously said the woman was being treated for severe smoke inhalation at City Hospital in Martinsburg, where she was initially taken.