Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
2007-02-16 08:00:00.0
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Westminster -

Westminster’s approval of a shopping center on the city’s outskirts conflicts with the city’s efforts to revitalize downtown, city leaders say.

“Those trendy shops [at the Village of Meadow Creek] should be downtown,” said Stan Ruchlewicz, the city’s economic development administrator. “Those shops could really make downtown healthy.”

Westminster Common Council had approved a 15-acre “lifestyle center” along Route 140 near Route 31 near the 188-unit Village of Meadow Creek.

The developer, Jonathan Mayers of Wyndtryst Commercial Properties, envisions restaurants, a drive-through bank, offices, upscale retail and a 780-space parking lot.

“It’s a concern, of course, because it’s hard to promote downtown when you’re building new restaurants and businesses” outside of town, said Lori Graham, owner of Dutterers Flower Shop on Pennsylvania Avenue and president of the Greater Westminster Development Corp., an organization that works to attract businesses and shoppers downtown.

“However, the goal is to get Carroll residents to shop and dine in Westminster” even if it’s on the outskirts of town, she said. “There’s no way to attract chains and higher-end clothing stores and restaurants downtown because there isn’t the square footage.”

The shopping center complements downtown’s revitalization, said Westminster Common Council Member Robert Wack.

“The project is going to be a positive thing, especially if the developer follows through on making it a high-end destination,” he said.

Meanwhile, developer Martin K. P. Hill, whose proposal to build 320 senior cottages on Wakefield Valley Golf Course was denied by the city in December, has filed an appeal in Carroll Circuit Court, city attorney John Walsh Jr. said.

Hill failed to persuade the city — during five hours of expert testimony at a November public hearing — that the development wouldn’t further congest traffic, ruin neighbors’ golf-course views and suck up a water supply already flagged by the state as too low to withstand droughts.

Hill said the council based its decision on emotions rather than “the overall benefit to the city.”

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com