Carroll County commissioners voted to allow the developer of Eldersburg’s Mineral Hill subdivision to start the development process for 13 new homes before the overcrowded Freedom Elementary School nearby can begin its planned addition of five new classrooms.
As of the 2023-2024 school year, Freedom Elementary was at 123% of its capacity, with 118 enrolled students more than it could accommodate, according to the school system’s capital budget plan. The school was 92 students over capacity in the 2022-2023 school year, with enrollment projected to continue growing.
The Board of Education approved a $7.2 million project at Freedom Elementary in August to add 112 seats and 4,500 square feet to the school. Once complete, the school will have a total capacity of 637 students, but enrollment is projected to be 673 students (105.7% capacity) by summer 2027, when construction work will be complete, according to the school system.
According to county law, Mineral Hill, to be located at Oklahoma Road and Mineral Hill Road in Eldersburg, should not be allowed to start the process of building 13 planned homes until the school’s addition work begins. There is already one house on the property; when fully built out, it will have 14 single-family homes.
Commissioner Ed Rothstein, who represents Carroll’s District 5, including Eldersburg, said the planned expansion at Freedom Elementary was a key factor for him to support the subdivision project.
“Now that we have a plan moving forward with Freedom Elementary, and it’s not just planned but budgeted for 2027, we feel, as a board, that we should authorize this waiver,” Rothstein said.
There is also a shortage in housing inventory, Rothstein said. Although allowing plans to build 13 houses to advance will not fix the problem, a project of this size is also unlikely to be a significant concern for the school system, he added.
The county’s Adequate Public Facilities and Concurrency Management Ordinance, which regulates new development to ensure that infrastructure such as roads and schools are in place to support growth, requires the first step in the building process to be delayed until Freedom Elementary School construction is underway.
However, county code allows the recording of lots to begin if the Board of Carroll County Commissioners determines the existence of “exceptional circumstances.” A determination of exceptional circumstances would allow the subdivision to finish the legal process now and not delay until 2027.
On Oct. 24 commissioners voted 4-1 to allow the recording of the lots to move forward because, they said, the small development would have little impact on school overcrowding.
District 4 Commissioner Michael Guerin was the lone vote against the request because he believes it will set a bad precedent.
The developer assured the board that the home-building process would take several years.
“It’s not like I put a shovel in the ground and start building a house,” Frank E. Potepan III said. “It’s going to take probably four to six months to get through the (lot recording) process. Three to five months for infrastructure construction, and then four to six months for housing construction. So, we’re probably a year and a half before the first homeowner moves in, probably two years for completion.”
Superintendent Cynthia McCabe said in August that enrollment and capacity data will be reassessed when the project is complete. Freedom Elementary enrollment is likely to climb to around 58 students over capacity (109.1%) by 2031.
Commissioners’ President Ken Kiler, who represents District 2, said he believes that the small development would have little impact on the school. “It is one of the best-performing elementary schools in Carroll County,” he said. “If I were moving to the Eldersburg area I’d want my kid or grandkid in that school because it performs very well.”
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