Builders & developers (Pillagers&Blights)

[Hessian]

I will hit this topic in a series of entries that fully explore the caustic blight these "people" force upon us...
1st: Crowding: They have no conviction that their avarice leads to more crowded roads, longer lines in stores, more crowded schools, bustling parks,  etc. Oh, they can easily say that the zoning board or zoning laws allow them to pack in as many shabby built homes as they want..but they laugh all the way to the bank...where they wait in line with the rest of us schmucks.

The minimal impact fees they "Pay" don't cost them a dime: They shove it over on the buyer who will pay for it over the next 30 years.

The "planting improvements" are quickly shoved in the ground and if they die..so what...they don't have to prune, water, and stake these scrawny saplings...so, let them die and make someone else replant.-They'll be long gone.

More coming...
Veritas.

 

[seasquirt]

I get pretty P.O.'d when I see a new strip mall being built on 235 - there are so many vacancies in the strip malls that are already there! That new one with the eye care center and the Starbucks wasn't even necessary. And have you noticed that no new houses are being built in "First Colony" yet? No one wants to build a house there, because fewer and fewer people are buying property down here. With the volatile nature of all the contracting jobs, it's much easier to rent!

 

[RoseRed]

I wouldn't want to build near the dump - PEE U!

 

[vraiblonde]

I agree with you but I think you're misplacing the blame.  It's the responsibility of our county commissioners to limit or regulate the development of the county.  Developers can't just buy a spot of land and start putting up houses and strip malls - they must have permission first.  

Hopefully you all will remember this when you fill out your ballot in November.

 

[Lilly]

I simply don't understand the redundancy of the building . . . The gas station "Callaways" that was built directly across from  . . . guess what?  A gas station.  And the new Sheetz and WaWa's built less than a mile away from each other on Great Mills Rd.?
I agree that there is a problem with all these new strip malls filled with empty stores.  Didn't we learn from Superfresh building 4 stores in the same area - they ended up having to close them all!  Yes that was part of a nationwide problem but it should be indicative of this area as well.
The part about the new home complexes ("planned communities&quot that bothers me is the proximity of all of the houses!  They are practically built on top of eachother!  What happens in 10 years when these "units" get turned over to a majority of renters rather than owners??  Hope you weren't expecting your property values to continue to go up St. Mary's citizens!

 

[Hessian]

Part 2
A Bunch of you have noted the thoughtless growth and irrational "planning" that has swept aside a way of life that will never return.

Think about the mountain of forms that you sign when you buy a house now...do you remember all the different agencies that take slivers of you pie? Inspectors, surveyors, license sellers, lawyers etc....All feel they have a right to take part of your years of upkeep and improvements. If you can pass it on to the buyer-they pay for it for 30 years or more.

This merges with my second point: Your parents bought their homes and paid no more than a 7 year mortgage (Built off the Biblical standard) That meant that they could concentrate their finances on kids after owning the house for a few years. Equity loans were quickly available-all short term. Today- we can expect points, fees, etc all wrapped into a 30 year debt. Even a small home yields the bank $40-75,000 in interest-money lost. The result? Parents having a two-earner" household-paying for mortgage...taxes...civic fees, and now, even 5-7 year car payments!!
Is this bondage any different than tenant farming in the deep south?

Thus huge houses, smaller families, more debt......richer builders.

 

[seasquirt]

StarBuck - I understand why you don't like to look at the crappy strip malls, but it's mostly all cosmetic. If they got a facelift and put new stores in the empty units, they could be every bit as nice as the new strip malls they're building. It would probably be cheaper than building an entirely new structure as well.

I just think it sucks that we have a "main drag", but no real town center in Lexington Park. I absolutely love going to Leonardtown and walking around the square. I wish something like that had been planned in Lex Park.

 

[Lilly]

The problem with the existing gas station is that it is not very modern or complete in it's offerings.  Last time I checked, you couldn't even get a good hot dog in there.  The 'Callaway's Mobil' is clean and modern and a welcome sight to the area.  It is also good to have stations on opposite sides of the road so people don't have to cross traffic to get gas.

The Quickstop across form what is now 'Callaway's Mobil' actually used to be a great gas station before it went under new ownership.  You could get much more than a good hot dog - they had great hoagies and pizza as well.  Why not refurbish the existing one rather than building a new which will eventually push the original one out of business?

And while I understand the significance of intersection gas stations at major interections . . Route 5 and 249?  I have never hit traffic here.

As far as the Superfresh goes I miss them!  I know that they were somewhat pricey but it was worth it to me.  The Food Lion near me (KMart shopping Center on 235) has always seemed dingy and I hate shopping there.  Besides my son absolutely loved the self-checkout at the Superfresh in San Souci and therefore was much better behaved while shopping because he looked forward to helping at the end!

 

[RoseRed]

I too miss SuperFresh.  I will buy my staples at Food Lion also, but NOT produce or meat.  I go to Giant or Woodburn's for that and I think that their prices are much higher than ever SuperFresh was.  

 

[vraiblonde]

I live right outside of Frederick and I don't understand why they don't revamp Lex Park to be more like downtown here or in Alexandria, with cool shops and restaurants in an Old Town atmosphere.  Why keep putting up these tacky strip malls when you could have something really cool that would draw people and encourage them to spend their money?  Waldorf and Calvert are no different - just crappy strips.

When the community is attractive and clean, it instills pride in the residents.

 

[Sharon]

RoseRed on 9:53 am on Feb. 22, 2002[br]I too miss SuperFresh.  I will buy my staples at Food Lion also, but NOT produce or meat. 

Me too!  I can't wait for the produce stand in Solomon's to open back up in the Spring.  Meat I usually buy at Sam's Club once a month or so.

 

[Hessian]

Other than a discussion of meat and produce shopping...seems like people are simply resolved to grimly look at the future and say that our declining standard of living is inevitable.

What decline in the standard of living? Some of you ritzy urban types wonder.
WE don't want all the conditions I outlined before (crowding, lines, crime..)

IN Addition:
*How about all the dead animals you pass every day on the road? Habitats in decline.
*Or how about the chunks of sheetrock & building waste we swerve to avoid? (They bury how many tons on their lot?
*Now, Harry homeowner gets a hostile visit from the VFD when he torches a leaf pile of leaves "Drought conditions you idiot!" they snarl. Oh, but watch the stump and brush pile burn for days at some builder's lot-perfectly fine.
*How about rush grading? Little effort is made to make sure a lot has settled well: Hence foundation cracks, crumble driveways, and years of lousy lawns and erosion after they plant a cheap annual grass...and they're long gone when the evidence starts piling up...

more later.
veritas.

 

[geekboy]

St Marys Square atleast has stores in a more concentrated area than all of them parallel to the road.  IT really does need cleaned up and get rid of the liqour store, alot of dirt bags hang out there.  I wish they would have build a big square shopping center instead of having all of those stop lights on 235.  

People complain about the time it takes to drive just a couple miles along there so they widen the road and add keep adding stoplights,  a new one popped up over the last couple weeks.  Pretty soon it will be faster to go out of gate 2, down great mills road and up Rt 5 and then Rt 4 to get to Calvert.  

 

[geekboy]

Oh yea since Super Fresh closed I been doing my shopping at McKays.  My weekly grocery bill has went from about $35 to $40.  I don't see why some people said Superfresh had high prices.   I refuse to shop at Food Lion any more,  several times I stood in line there for 10 minutes to get just one item.  

 

[jellybean]

Welcome to Waldorf Jr. That's what it is starting to look like. I am really impressed with the "Used Car Lot" in the old Lowes building parking lot.

I think First Colony fell quite short of expectations. Our illustrious leaders told us of the great opportunity it would be for quality stores to locate in our area. Not to down play Michael's and Pier One, but I was rather hoping for a Hecht type store. When we do get some interest from BJ's to locate here, our County Commissioners didn't feel that it met the image!  Strip malls do I guess!

I would like to see stores of a bit higher caliber here than Wal Mart, K Mart and Target. Wasn't that also the reason all the small stores were ousted from Wildewood too, to have room for "Larger chains" to come in? Penney's is just a mini version of the Waldorf store-quite limited.

 

[Lilly]

Unfortunately most of the larger more prestigious chains aren't interested in our area.  When a business is looking to expand our area has too high rental prices with not enough consumers willing to pay high prices to compensate.  Everyone owning or managing commercial rental property has been consumed with greed.  The owner's of the old strip malls hear how much the new ones are charging and raise thier rates - the new ones just raise them higher!  That is what happened to San Souci from what I have heard.  With all the new competition on 235 the owner's raised all thier rental rates and drove almost everybody either out of the complex or out of business.  What happened to Can't Stop the Music and all the little restaurants?  They couldn't afford to be in business there anymore!  That is why it was easier for CVS to buy a lot and build a brand new building just down the street then to continue on in San Souci!

 

[PmoneyandTT]

The problem I see - all these strip malls - where is the entertainment!!!

YOu can't even bowl - if you wanna skate - gotta go past Prince Frederick or up to waldolf.  There really isn't anything to do in Lex Park.. Other then work - get fat - and spend all your money at the stores..

The movie theater even sucks.. There are alot of young people - and nothing to do with extra time.. Instead of trying to bring all these businesses in - why not build a bigger bowling alley - skating rink - a Jeeters. Mini golf - go cart raceway... I am so bored out my mind in St Mary's I could scream!!!

 

[jazz lady]

PmoneyandTT on 12:38 pm on Feb. 25, 2002[br]The problem I see - all these strip malls - where is the entertainment!!!

YOu can't even bowl - if you wanna skate - gotta go past Prince Frederick or up to waldolf.  There really isn't anything to do in Lex Park.. Other then work - get fat - and spend all your money at the stores..

The movie theater even sucks.. There are alot of young people - and nothing to do with extra time.. Instead of trying to bring all these businesses in - why not build a bigger bowling alley - skating rink - a Jeeters. Mini golf - go cart raceway... I am so bored out my mind in St Mary's I could scream!!!

At one time there used to be two bowling alleys in St. Mary's - what is now Cadillac Jack's used to be Lemar Lanes.  And Esperanza used to be a whole lot bigger.  Why did they downsize/go out of business?  NOT ENOUGH CUSTOMERS!  We had the Skate Station for rollerskating - what happened to that?  NOT ENOUGH CUSTOMERS and too many problems with the kids hanging out there.

Believe me - a lot of people have tried to get things to do down here.  There used to be a teen center at the Navy base - closed again because of a lack of interest and too many problems with the kids.  They've tried adult nightclubs - appealing to something other than the 20-something crowd and they've folded because nobody came.

I don't know what the solution is other than SUPPORTING things around here - nobody is going to build something if no one comes out and uses it.

 

[vraiblonde]

Jazz, that's a good point.  Even the driving range isn't doing so well.  What's the story?  Everyone complains that there's nothing to do, but when there <i>is</i> something to do, no one does it.  There used to be a mini-golf over on Solomons, too.  Gone now because of lack of business.  The movie theater apparently has a rough time of it, too.

 

[Sharon]

We went bowling at Esperanza on Sunday.  It was $39 for 6 bowlers with shoes.  It would have been a lot more fun if the lanes were working well but they weren't.  They crowed (us) 6 bowlers on one lane with another party of 6 in the next lane.  There wasn't enough room for all the balls everyone was using and half the time the balls got lost and didn't return.  They kept half of the lanes closed.  Years ago they had midnight bowling...that was fun, I don't think I could stay awake now though.