St. Mary's - Business Development/ The Slow Train

[darkclown]

Does anyone else have a problem with the slow pace our county has taken in allowing business development? Its alarming that with a population that is growing exponentially and a desperate need for services for the community, there doesn't seem to be much interest in giving the business community any incentive to come here. Thus we are left with strip malls that are half empty and a community that must drive over 45 minutes to see a movie.

I certainly understand that there should be some preservation of the local landscape, but if someone would look at intelligent development of the commercial areas then there would be much less of a problem there. I find it very troubling that a developer would go to the length of clearing massive amounts of land (like at First Colony) only to find that no businesses will move here because of the enormous tax burden immediately placed on them. The problem has nothing to do with demographics..... we are here now (you can’t go backwards unless PAX was to close which it is not), but much more to do with an unwillingness for change on the part of some of our commissioners. I hope that our government here realizes the problem before its too late. We could end up with half empty strip malls filled with unproductive businesses all the way to Ridge. How about taking a page out of Bowie's playbook? They figured it out and really curbed the development problem!

A great example is the development of a real mall here. We already have our "business center" encircling the base! It would be of such benefit to the community here (Waldorf is not around the block), and we could contain the unyielding strip mall expansion in the process, which would ultimately protect more lands from unnecessary development.

[Ken King]

“Does anyone else have a problem with the slow pace our county has taken in allowing business development?” Is it an issue of allowing development or an issue of being able to get a developer or company to take the risk? While I agree that the population is growing I don’t see it being large enough yet to draw the necessary major businesses into the area that are needed to “anchor” an endeavor like a mall. Are tax incentives enough to get someone to bring their “chain” down here or do they look at the population and economic factors to see if it is potentially large enough to provide the clientele necessary to make a profit?

While I agree that there should be “smart planning” I’m just not sure what that is. As you seem to have strong feelings about this maybe you should try to get onto the Planning Commission (I think it is still a volunteer group). Or at least attend the meetings to get your voice heard. You might want to call Jon Grimm, the Director, at 301-475-4449 to find out how you can best serve the county. Their website is located at http://www.co.saint-marys.md.us/planzone/ and they have a link to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance recently passed and the meeting schedule.

[darkclown]

the business taxes down here are astronomical in comparison to other MD counties and that the developer also wanted far too much for the land. That's the other problem we have here which does not help us, land baron's that are putting the squeeze on anyone who looks to take their business here. Also, the thought processes put into development by the CCs seem to be non-existent. Look at Chancellor's Run Road, its a complete nightmare.... every single day. I'll end with this thought ..... how many gas stations do we need? We are beginning look like a place I passed through once, Barstow, CA., gas stations as far as the eye could see.

Part of the reason the taxes are so high is because all of the developements keep building along RT 235 and they are constantly adding stoplights and having to widen the road to increase the throughput.

If 235 didnt have all of those stripmalls on it, it wouldnt require all of those stoplights and we could probably do with a 2 lane road instead of 4 or more lanes. For Christs sake the capital beltway is 4 lanes and we have no where near the volume of traffic that it does.

You can't blame everything on the county comissioners, part of the blame must lie on the residents for electing them, ignoring the inevitable that growth would come to St Marys.

In my opinion 235 should be a through road only and any developement should be on roads perpendicular or parallel to it.

[darkclown]

the fact that more develiopment should happen west of 235, but its too late now. We still need to create more E to W transit. As far as the taxes, when I spoke with one of the comissioners about it he told me ALL of the money to pay for 235 is coming from the state, not the county.

[chuckster]

qoute:
Posted by darkclown

"The problem has nothing to do with demographics..... we are here now (you can’t go backwards unless PAX was to close which it is not), but much more to do with an unwillingness for change on the part of some of our commissioners. I hope that our government here realizes the problem before its too late. We could end up with half empty strip malls filled with unproductive businesses all the way to Ridge".

I think that a large part of the problem is the demographics. Looking at the census, the population of St Mary's is still below 100,000 and the same in Calvert. What everyone expected to happen with the base infact did not. Some people decided not to transfer here for their jobs and some people decided to drive from DC and VA rather than move. Everyone, including the Board of Comissioners, was betting "on the come"
So what has happened is a bunch of new businesses, both Big Box and small, trying to get the same business. We will never see a Mall here in St Mary's. Businesses are starting to wise up to what has happened here and are going to other locations.
The movie theater was strictly a decission made on the demographics and that there would not be enough people to support a multi-plex movie. Red Lobster and Olive Garden have said the same thing. You can only cut the pie in so many pieces.
For me this has worked out great. When I purchased my franchise the corporation saw that the demographics of St Marys would not support the business. Because of this I was able to purchase Charles and Calvert County with St Mary's for the lower franchise fee.
On the other hand, companies such as WAWA and Sheetz are going to do fine and continue to grow in this county. Two more WAWA's are going up as we sit here and look at these posts. One will be at the Western Steer location and the other at ADF Bingo. They have surrounded the base and willget the business because of their locations. I feel bad for Burch. He has been here for years but I think even he has seen the light. The old Burch Mart by gate 1 has been sold twice in only a few months.
Even Super Fresh saw the light and realized that it would be cheaper for them to close the stores and pay the rent and not fight this up-hill fight for the same customer. With close to 14 super markets in this county and the low margins that these stores work on, I don't blame them for doing what they did. Once again, you can only cut the pie in so many pieces.
We are becoming a county of large corp stores, with a food court(Rt 235), surrounded by convenience stores and gas stations. I don't think that we are going to see much more business development in this county.

[Tonio]

I think the glut of empty commercial spaces sends a bad message to retailers looking to come here. Look at Wildewood Center and San Souci.

I've been told by a few business owners that San Souci's problem is the high rents. Over on the Post Office side, I think a half-dozen restaurants have failed there in the past 10 years. That shopping center desperately needs an anchor store.

Anyone been to Colonial Beach, Va.? I've been there a few times and I'm amazed that the town has survived this long. There's a shopping center that's virtually empty except for a Dollar General and a hardware store. The parking lot looks like Omaha Beach after D-Day. Is this the future for shopping centers like St. Mary's Square, Millison Plaza and San Souci?

[chuckster]

The rents at both of these locations are very reasonable. Both cennters are more than willing to work with reailers to help get them going. But there are a couple of problems with going into one of the larger centers. Seems like the "Big Boys" who lease from these centers dictate what can come in the center after them or what kind of business they can do. Don't look for any pool tables in Wildewood because Outback will not allow them. You would not beleive the list of restrictions that these big companies put on other stores.
The restaurants in San Soucci seem to be doing great now. Just needed the right concept and management. Look for a new anchor in that center soon.
Also keep in mind that some of these empty stores are still paying rent such as Super Fresh, CVS and Eckerds. They will have to pay them until the units are rented or sub-leased.
There is always more to the story.

[Tonio]

I believe that getting more chain restaurants in St. Mary's is not necessarily a good thing. It would be shame if Damon's or Ruby Tuesdays put places like Lenny's or The Roost out of business. That could happen because the chains have the advantage of name recognition and advertising resources. That's a shame, because it really ought to be about the food and the service.

When my wife and I travel, we try out the locally owned restaurants whenever possible. What's the point of traveling if you eat the same food you can get at home? We also try the small regional chains, like Chuy's in Austin.

[darkclown]

I completely disagree with the notion that demographics has had any significant part in the development in this county. Its more than just Saint Marys, its Calvert as well... up to Prince Fredrick there is really nothing! In the time I have been here I have seen massive housing development throughout the middle part of our county. Not only that, but there has been a constant growth of commercial business adjacent to the base!
I spoke with some folks 'in the know" and I can tell you, Hoyts did not make their decision not to come here based on demographics, but because of the high price the developer wanted for the land. Like our outragous home prices, commercial land development prices are through the roof. Businesses should not be expected to pay prices as if this were downtown Arlington or Fairfax. Look at our home prices, they are extremely bloated. I have friends living on the outskirts of DC (Bristow, etc) who have had to pay considerably less for their homes (20-30K) then we do here for a comparable house!
So anyway, what are we getting? A BJs...... yet another business we really dont need. Speaking of real needs and as a good example of what I am talking about... both locations where Superfresh once was still remain vacant to this day. This has been terrible. There is not enough capacity to handle the volume. Giant has so much business they can barely keep up.
The fact is that between lower Calvert and Saint Mary's there is plenty of need and the businesses must be given better financial conditions to come here and meet our growing purchasing and service needs!