Odenton's Spooky Town Center

It's no secret that the proposed Odenton Town Center is a decidely bad idea. The planned commercial hub would be dropped in 1,622 acres of forest near the intersection of routes 175 and 32 and at least some of the project would be located in wetlands feeding both the Severn and Patuxent rivers. Most of the project would be located on land that is currently undisturbed.

This is another brilliant project brought to you by the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation, developers of such affronts to green space as Arundel Mills Mall and the ever-expanding, osmotic blob currently known as BWI airport. You would think with as much demand as there is to be in Anne Arundel County, we wouldn't need a quasi-governmental organization greasing the skids for further development. But such thinking would be crazy.

Smart growth in Odenton might actually involve pursuing some sort of agreement with the Feds to redevelop parts of the decaying Fort George Meade or focus on other sections of west county that are in complete and utter disrepair. I suppose it is easier however just to bulldoze hundreds of acres of trees, start anew, and let those other areas slowly continue to return themselves to the earth.

Oh, and the Capital reports another federal agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, may want space at the new Town Center. A possible slogan in the works: "Odenton Town Center: Where you can pick up milk, sweatpants, golf clubs, and satellite images of your neighbors' pool chairs."