West County Federation Revives

Today's Sun reports that the West County Federation of Civic Associations has pulled itself out of its slumber, and not a moment too soon. The organization finally crumbled in 2002 because of infighting over whether or not to support the 1.3 million square foot Arundel Mills Mall, but it had been weakened in prior years by the exodus of Crofton-area groups to the Greater Crofton Council. The planned range for the newly constituted Federation is east to west from Fort Meade to Laurel and north to south from the Jessup area to the Patuxent River.

With BRAC coming to west county over the course of next decade, there are going to be extremely intense development pressures on the area, and citizens need to be poised, and prepared to make their positions known. Umbrella organizations like these can provide the solidarity required for the community to present a united front against well-funded and organized development interests. Some of the future issues facing west county include the possible addition of slots at the Laurel Park race tracks, the closure of the Oak Hill Youth Center (an 888-acre property near NSA), a proposed 1,600 home Ribera development, and the prospects for 78-acres of undeveloped land owned by the School Board.