Middletown schedules hearing for Remsberg Park annexation

Ryan Marshall, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Middletown will hold a hearing in June to consider annexing Remsberg Park on the town’s southern edge.

The hearing on whether to annex more than 94 acres that include the 88-acre park, an adjacent solar array, and the town’s East Wastewater Treatment Plan is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 6. The hearing will be held at the town’s offices at 31 W. Main St.

No vote on the annexation has been scheduled, but it will likely be in July or August, Burgess John Miller said Monday.

The town only has one meeting scheduled in June, which will deal with the town’s budget, he said.

The town has owned the park since 2005, but several issues have prevented its annexation until now, Miller said.

The main concern was whether adding the property would cut off a nearby subdivision in the county, creating what planners call an “enclave” of county land surrounded by town land.

But the Maryland Department of Planning and the town’s attorney have determined that an annexation would not create an enclave situation, Miller said.

The solar array was always part of the parkland, but the wastewater treatment plant was originally a separate property.

Miller said he hasn’t heard any comment about the proposal to annex the park, and he expects the proposal to be routine.

The town bought the property along Holter Road, near the Middletown Primary School and volunteer fire company, from the Remsberg family for $1.9 million in 2005.

Properties adjoining the park are a mix of agricultural, residential, and institutional, with large agricultural tracts to the south and east, according to an annexation plan prepared by the town.

The town plans to keep the property as a park, Miller said.

Much of the money to buy the park came from state Project Open Space money, which requires that it remain parkland for specified periods, Miller said in February. He said Monday that remains the town’s plan.

The town wants to continue to enhance the park, which is home to a variety of athletic fields and other amenities, including paving the facility’s parking lot and a road leading to some of the fields, as well as an agreement with the Middletown Valley Athletic Association to add several more fields and other amenities.