(12/30) Emmitsburg News Journal and Frederick News Post articles quote Albert Courts Condominium resident Louise Schafer, who collected signatures for the Petition for Referendum to overturn the Annexation of the Simmers property, together with the group called "Envision Thurmont", as saying:

"I want to make it clear we are not opposed to the annexation, but we are opposed to the R-5 high density residential."

The entire Simmers property was designated in the Thurmont Town 2009 Master Plan as a Town Growth Area intended for future development as high density residential. This was supported in the County Master Plan in 2010 and again in 2012 – for over ten years both the Town and the County plans have said this agricultural zoned fallow farmland should be annexed into the Town and should be developed as a high density residential neighborhood. This intent was repeated in the 2022 Town Master Plan after numerous public meetings before the Thurmont Planning Commission and the Thurmont Board of Commissioners. Persons who now profess opposition to Smart Growth in Thurmont didn’t participate in their Town’s formulation of the new Master Plan over the past few years.

Mrs. Schafer purchased her Age 55+ Restricted condominium in Albert Courts in 2013 – four years after the immediately adjacent Simmers property was already designated for future high density residential growth.

The Albert Courts Condominiums and Carroll Street extended area, directly abutting the Simmers property, is inside the Town of Thurmont. It has Town R-5 high density residential zoning, and it has an existing density of 10.2 units per acre. R-5 zoning in Thurmont is up to 10.79 dwelling units per acre. Albert Courts is near this maximum and has been since it was constructed 26 years ago.

The concept plans approved by the Board of Commissioners in September as part of the Simmers property Annexation limit the density in the new neighborhood to 7.9 dwelling units per acre, well below the maximum. Indeed, the approved concept plans for the Simmers property Annexation have less density than any existing R-5 high density neighborhood in Thurmont today.

Smart Growth for Thurmont means building much needed new homes where existing sewer and water capacity already exists and is underutilized. No private sector company would operate a widget manufacturing factory at only a limited percent of capacity – it’s a waste of capability and it raises the price to the end consumer of each widget produced at the lower rate. The same logic applies to citizens that are the taxpaying "owners" of municipal public utilities – they should be utilized by new dwelling units to the maximum extent practicable in order to provide a return on investment to the taxpayer for these facilities – spread the cost of operations out over a greater number of users. The sewer and water related fees paid to Thurmont per dwelling unit in the approved concept plan as part of Annexation will be a total of approximately $1,790,520.

Where and when the public utility facilities (pipes, pump stations and treatment plants) need to grow, Smart Growth means doing so at the expense of the developer – not the taxpayer. That is the case for the Simmer’s property in Thurmont -- the developer is paying to upgrade the existing sewer pump facility next to Apples Church to meet all applicable government regulations (including an oversized electrical generator to ensure freshwater pressures at the high school and areas of the Town west of Route 15). The developer is also paying $337K above and beyond the regular water and sewer fees mentioned above for the Town to expand its capacity as the Town sees fit. Annexation approval is Smart Growth that gets these benefits for the Town and the taxpayers. Development without annexation, permitted as a matter of right on the ground already in the Town and already zoned R-5, does not yield these benefits.

Please say "For Thurmont" on January 17th.

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The creation of new housing is important. The simple act of putting new roofs over people’s heads, of creating new welcoming neighborhoods in existing small towns, is a necessary part of economic & societal growth. A Petition for Referendum circulated in Thurmont in October comes to a public vote in a special election on 17 January 2023 at the Guardian Hose Company Activities Building. Please do not let the truth about this new neighborhood in Thurmont be drowned out in "no-growth" & "not in my backyard" rhetoric. As a voting citizen, please consider the following facts as you vote for Thurmont.

The new neighborhood conceptually approved for the Simmers property will be "open market", not public subsidized, not government voucher, not set aside for any one group. Equal Housing Opportunity laws mean exactly that: equal opportunity for anyone at a price point suitable for Thurmont.

The concept plan approval was granted by the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners after four years of review. It deliberately provides the "missing middle" of housing opportunity in new townhouses and condominiums on tree-lined streets amongst opens spaces at a density less than any other existing Thurmont R-5 zoned multi-family neighborhood. The Town has planned other places in Thurmont as more appropriate for new single-family homes.

We will provide a new multi-family dwelling home for any customer, but we "Envision" our new residents as:

• The largest age cohort in America today, who wish to start their families but cannot afford or don’t want a single-family home.
• Younger people who wish to remain in the small town they know, but not in their parent’s basement.
• Empty-nester seniors who wish to downsize from their existing home in Thurmont to a ground floor condominium that is architecturally designed for their changing needs and in a neighborhood with all ages. OBTW, this frees up their prior home for a new family.
• Those who work for the society: "work force housing" for 1st Responders, Teachers, Health Care, & Military.

The Simmers property was designated in the Thurmont 2009 Master Plan as a Town Growth Area intended for development as high density residential. This was supported in the County Master Plan in 2010 and 2012 – for over ten years both the Town and the County have said this agricultural zoned fallow land should be annexed into the Town and should be developed as a high-density residential neighborhood. This intent was repeated in the 2022 Town Master Plan after numerous public meetings.

It’s Smart Growth because there is surplus existing sewer and water capacity. The developer will pay over $2 million dollars in utility user fees and proffers for the Town, plus rebuild a sewer pump station.

It’s Smart Growth because Frederick County Public Schools has stated that enrollment in Thurmont schools is critically low. The new neighborhood adds children without risk of overcrowding, and the developer will pay over $3 million dollars for school impact fees.

It’s Smart Growth because two traffic studies, done to professional Maryland standards, state that the new community will not cause a loss in service at the studied intersections directed by the Town. The new neighborhood will add only a one second delay at Apples Church and Carroll Street. The developer is also paying $505,000 for the Town to use for street infrastructure.

It's Smart Growth because it responds to the Thurmont Economic Development survey, which calls for a Senior Assisted Living Facility and Child Day Care Center, two critical parts of this new community.

It's Smart Growth because "cash registers" follow "roof tops." The economic revitalization of Thurmont with new restaurants and new stores needs the construction of more new homes to occur first. More residents mean more business and more opportunity.