A proposed 26-home community for adults 55 and older is facing an appeal in western Howard County, where nearby households depend on private wells and septic systems. The Twigg property, at Triadelphia Road and Lakeway Drive, has no public utility service, and neighbors say they are concerned about how the development could affect local groundwater.
Six western Howard County residents whose homes border the proposed site petitioned to appeal the county’s conditional-use approval, according to The Banner. The county approved Elm Street Development’s request over the summer. The project would include 26 multi-level, age-restricted homes and a community center, according to WMAR 2 News Baltimore.
Neighbors Raise Money to Fight the Approval
The neighbors have raised money to pursue the appeal, WMAR reported. Susan Euteneuer and Becky Merrill, members of a coalition opposing the project, have voiced concerns about the potential effects on nearby wells. Merrill said residents could not live in their homes if their wells failed.
Residents’ concern, as described in WMAR’s report, is that a well failure at the Twigg property could affect nearby systems, while rebuilding a well can be costly or impossible on some smaller lots. Euteneuer said she hopes county and state authorities would impose restraints if the project harms neighborhood wells. Howard County’s Board of Appeals calendar identifies the case as an appeal of Hearing Examiner Joyce Nichols’ July 21, 2026, decision granting the conditional-use petition with conditions, according to county records.
Water Math Behind the Dispute
Elm Street estimates the development would use 4,050 gallons of water per day, or about 150 gallons per home occupant daily, WMAR reported. Developer representative Jason Van Kirk said the estimate was based on Maryland Department of the Environment methodology and pointed to demand for age-restricted housing in western Howard County. He also said the state’s water-appropriation review would involve pumping tests to assess effects on off-site properties, a process he expected could take years before final project approval.
Elm Street has said it would reduce the project’s density if state review finds the water supply and well capacity insufficient for the current plan, WMAR reported. The Banner reported that the county health department has not yet reviewed or approved the wells in the current plan; they may need to be relocated or converted to a community well system. Elm Street is seeking separate approvals from the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Howard County Health Department for the proposed community well system and septic area, the newspaper reported.
A Region Already Stressed by Drought
The dispute comes amid broader concern about groundwater conditions. A May 14, 2026, drought warning from the Maryland Department of the Environment said persistent rainfall deficits were lowering groundwater levels and stream flows in affected parts of the state. That regional assessment does not establish conditions at individual wells near the Twigg property. Earlier this year, WBAL-TV also reported emergency-low groundwater levels in Central Maryland and warnings that a dry well can be expensive to deepen or repair.
What the Review Can Establish
Maryland regulations allow the Department to require special evaluations, including well-pumping tests, for proposed groundwater appropriations; they do not make testing automatic in every case, according to the Library of Maryland Regulations. Howard County’s Health Department says its Well and Septic Program oversees installation and repair of drinking-water wells and on-site sewage systems and reviews proposed sewage-system designs under state and local rules. Those general responsibilities do not establish the status of the Twigg proposal’s reviews.
A 1999 Maryland Geological Survey study examined a public-supply well near Bel Air and concluded that prolonged pumping likely would not significantly harm groundwater availability to neighboring domestic wells. That study involved a different project and location, so it does not determine the potential effects of the proposed Twigg development.
One neighbor near the Twigg property, quoted by The Banner, captured the underlying worry in plain terms: “We are gravely concerned that the high density development proposed near our home could alter our groundwater resources.” The appeal is now before the Board of Appeals, with a hearing scheduled for December 3.
