Residents bemoan portable classrooms

Ellicott City (Map, News) - They are one of the first things Jerry Manas sees from his kitchen window in the morning, and their lights shine into his house at night.

They are portable classrooms, and neighbors complain the temporary additions at Centennial Lane Elementary School are a nuisance.

“If these trees weren’t here, I don’t know what I’d do,” said Manas, pointing to a thin shield of pine between his yard and the beige walls of five portable classrooms.

Manas and several other Ellicott City residents bordering the school are bemoaning the portables and the school system for not alerting them of the construction.

For Manas, the classrooms are about 50 yards from his house and edge the border of his property. His neighbor, Wen Pan, has a straight shot to them from his back yard, and his children’s wooden playset sits mere feet from them.

These classrooms have been up since about July, and neighbors have been given little notice of if or when they will be removed, Manas said.

“They haven’t done anything, and they haven’t come out to say anything,” Manas said of the school system.

School officials said they do their best to communicate with neighbors and mitigate the impact of construction.

“Any time you have to do construction, there is going to be some degree of disruption,” said Ken Roey, head of facilities planning.

The Centennial Lane project will add 125 seats and include music and arts space and a physical education classroom, according to school officials.

“We have done this for many years throughout the county,” Roey said, adding the school system is usually “very successful” in working with neighbors.

School officials have tried to minimize the lighting and turn off some power and air conditioning units at night, Roey said, but “there is a limit to what we can do.”

After sending school and county officials a petition signed by more than a dozen residents, neighbors have a meeting planned Monday with school officials.

“I hope the school system can answer some of those questions,” said Councilwoman Courtney Watson, D-District 1, who represents the area and helped coordinate the meeting.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Community meeting on Centennial Lane Elementary School construction

WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday

WHERE: Centennial Lane Elementary’s cafeteria, 3825 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com