On Wednesday, March 29, Matthew Neiman (HOA Board member) spoke to the County Commissioners during the meeting on this topic.  If you want to see his testimony, you can watch it starting around the 39 minute mark (https://reflect-charlescountymd.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/624?site=1).  

 

·  Homeowners will suffer an economic loss by moving the Middle School.  Gleneagles South homeowners were led to believe at the time of their home purchase that the Middle School would be in close proximity to them.  Moving the Middle School will likely result in a decrease in property value.  An attempt to move the school at this point allows the Developer to charge prospective homeowners, in the yet to be built neighborhoods, a premium to live near a Middle School in the proposed, new location.  The Developer will effectively be able to double dip on advertised amenities.

 

·  There is a decent likelihood that Gleneagles South homeowners' children will NOT be able to attend the new Middle School in its proposed location and may remain at Stoddert.  In the 2019 elementary redistricting effort, Gleneagles South was removed from Mary Matula Elementary in La Plata.  Instead, these homes were rezoned not at the closest (Mary B Neal), nor the second closest (Dr. Gustavus Brown), nor the third closest (Eva Turner), but they were moved to the FOURTH closest elementary school (Arthur Middleton).

 

·  New Construction homeowners pay a 'Fair Share School Construction Excise Tax' which explicitly finances the ability to build new schools.

 

·  Why does the school need to be moved?  The Board of Education was seriously considering a plan to build the dual campus.  Due to there not being enough land donated by the developer, they could not add the roads as the county's highway traffic expert requested.  As a result, the Developer and Board of Education settled on this new location.  We don't understand why the Developer can't simply donate a little more land and build a few less houses in this location.

 

·  No input from the Gleneagles HOA was requested by the Developer or the Board of Education.  It's quite striking the location they have proposed.  The proposed location for the Middle School comes with close proximity to the Stadium, a yet to be developed commercially zoned center, and is directly neighboring the large overhead power lines.  I've not seen or heard any safety analysis regarding the proximity to the power lines and the long term exposure risks from attending school on a daily basis.  There will also be an increased amount of traffic on Piney Church Rd for Gleneagles North homeowners to deal with on a near daily basis once the school opens in the proposed location.

If you do nothing, the proposed change will likely be adopted.  If you do NOT want to see this change, you need to attend the hybrid meeting currently scheduled for April 25th at 6pm.  For meeting specifics including how to submit comments, how to register to speak virtually, or attend in person go to https://www.charlescountymd.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/11520/763 for details.

 

The Gleneagles HOA Board looks forward to discussing this topic or any other HOA issues at our upcoming HOA meeting on April 24th, 7pm in the Gleneagles Community Center.

 

Gleneagles HOA Board of Directors