LEONARDTOWN - The Town Council of Leonardtown approved the plans for Leonard's Grant on May 9. Leonard's Grant is the subdivision on Route 5 across from Pennie's that contains a potential school site. The subdivision site plan includes a requirement that 26 acres be deeded to the Town. Town Administrator Lachelle Miller said the site could be available to the St. Mary's County Public Schools if the school system wants to develop a school there.

The 26 acre site is in a low lying area and will require fill to create a buildable site for a school. The developer offered to provide up to 50,000 cubic yards of the fill dirt which will be needed to prepare the site for construction. School system Chief Administrative Officer Brad Clements said he built a school on compacted fill when he worked in Charles County. Part of the property for Westlake High School required surcharged compacted fill. “All our sites are compacted,” said Kimberly Howe, “but this one will be surcharged.” Howe explained that surcharging is the process of adding dirt to the site, letting it settle, then compacting it.

At the end of the approval by the Town Council, Town Commissioner Walter Wise asked the developer to make the site work for the school system.

But the school system had asked for 10 acres on top of the hill, and may finally conclude that the lower site is not acceptable. A number of reasons have been given for the request for higher ground, including concerns about releasing school buses onto Route 5 and potential difficulties with meeting storm water management requirements. According to Miller, there are two road accesses for the 26 acre site, one directly to Route 5 and the other through the subdivision to Route 245. If the school system uses the planned subdivision road to Route 5, there will be a traffic light there to get buses onto the road.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lorraine Fulton has said in the past that the school system needs “the right school at the right time in the right place.“ She recently indicated that she was not sure the proffered location is the right place.

Meanwhile, the discussions between the school system and the developer will continue. Although State planning approval for renovation of Leonardtown Elementary School makes the need for the Leonardtown 26 acre site less pressing than otherwise might have been the case, Capital Planning Coordinator Kimberly Howe commented, “We have an immediate need for two school sites, and will require two more.” She said the school system wants to establish a bank of sites for the future.

Town Administrator Lachelle Miller expressed her hope that use of the site by the School System could be worked out. “The Mayor and staff spent hours trying to facilitate the school site, even though we weren't required to. We tried to make it happen. We still have the 26 acres. The site is there if it works for the School Board.” She said that much of the Town's development efforts have been focused on the school, not on the design elements required by the Town's Comprehensive Plan and PUD Zoning Ordinance as would normally be the case.