Vision
Excerpted from “Odenton Town Center Master Plan – December 2009”
The Odenton Town Center will be a vital community where some live and work and others
come for the shopping, entertainment, cultural enhancement and transportation access
provided there. It will offer something for everyone and be a place that brings
the diverse population of the Odenton area together as a community. The Odenton
Town Center is at the heart of an area that has experienced tremendous residential
and business growth in recent decades and is expected to experience even more growth
in decades to come.
As a result of the recent Federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Initiative,
a number of federal positions are planned for relocation to the Fort George G. Meade
military base just west of the Odenton Town Center. It is anticipated that this
relocation will bring both additional jobs and households to the County as well
as to the region in general. (For more information on BRAC and growth at Fort Meade,
visit our Fort Meade/BRAC page).
The Odenton Town Center is particularly well positioned to serve this new
growth by offering new residential, office, and retail opportunities and thus providing
a center of community activity to serve the growing population. The presence of
a train station in the Odenton Town Center, the proximity of the Odenton Town Center
to major highways and regional connector roads, active bus service to the Odenton
Town Center, and the connection of the Odenton Town Center to area hiker/biker trials
combine to make the Odenton Town Center accessible to all. The Odenton Town Center
will be a retreat of green places, memorable spaces and pleasant connections. The
preservation of places of historical significance, special beauty and environmental
sensitivity together with the carefully planned development of the area, will make
the Odenton Town Center a unique and special place and a source of pride and enjoyment
for all who live, work and visit there.
Goals
The Goals for development of the Odenton Town Center are as follows:
Goal 1: Create a destination for shopping, employment, entertainment, education,
and other public services that serves the Odenton area and West County.
Goal 2: Capitalize on access to regional public transit by creating development
conditions that promote transit use by both residents commuting out of and workers
commuting into Odenton.
Goal 3: Embrace the State’s Smart Growth principles and create a compact,
mixed-use urban Core that is designed so that jobs, housing, and daily needs are
within walking distance of each other.
Goal 4: Create a strong sense of place for the Town Center that draws upon
and respects Odenton’s heritage and its historic resources.
Goal 5: Protect the natural resources of the Odenton Town Center and in particular
the wooded upland wetlands in the northern portions of the Odenton Town Center.
Goal 6: Provide community spaces.
Goal 7: Ensure accessibility of the Town Center by those traveling on foot
or by bike, car, bus or train.
Goal 8: Expedite quality land use through flexible
and timely development approvals to support expanded growth associated with Fort
George G. Meade.