The 'Forgotten' Part of Main Street Ellicott City Asks for Help

By Andrew Metcalf

There's a part of Ellicott City's Historic District that may seem forgotten. It's often referred to as the West End, or Frederick Road, but residents call it Main Street.

It doesn't have the cultivated commercial charm of the "quaint" end of Main, with more residences and a narrow section of road that forces cars to park on sidewalks. But residents say it has an appeal of its own and lots of potential that is being severely hampered by infrastructure challenges.

When heavy rain comes, the Tiber Hudson watershed overflows, surrounding homes between Rogers Avenue and Ellicott Mills Drive in stormwater that in the past has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

Michele Bickley moved to the West End from Los Angeles in the late summer of 2011. Her family of three prepared to grow to four in the historic stone home they purchased beside a gentle stream. Michele was eight months pregnant.

One week later Tropical Storm Lee hit, sending a river of water down Main Street. 

"As the water poured into our home, my husband and I ran boxes as fast as we could up flights of stairs," wrote Bickley about that day on the West End. "I was doing yoga breathing like you can't imagine, telling my unborn son that he was not going to be born that day.

"Cars washed down the street, fences were uprooted and carried away, and massive granite boulders were tossed down the road like Legos. I couldn't imagine the rising water ever stopping."

Bickley Wednesday night joined about 40 of her neighbors at a community meeting with county officials to discuss what could be done to improve the West End.

"I think when it comes down to it," said Bickley, "certain people say the West End just isn't worth it. But there's so much potential here, we just need a little backup.

"When you see someone taking care of their house, their street and their life, doesn't it inspire you to do the same?"

Neighbors echoed Bickley's plea by asking the county to manage the stormwater, to take care of the cracking sidewalks, to repair the stream walls.

"We've tried to keep up with the progress of development in this area," said Barrington Sweeney, who described building up stream walls for his neighbors over the years. "We've put our own money into block and cement to support you guys. You haven't done anything to support the drainage of that creek."

Overdevelopment became a theme of the evening.

Frank Durantaye, who said he has lived in the West End for 27 years, said development between Route 29 and Ellicott Mills Drive over the past five years has caused the Hudson stream that runs near his home to rise significantly more even with moderate rainfall.

"You overdeveloped Howard County over the years," said Durantaye, to the officials gathered at the meeting. "Now it has to be fixed."

Mark Richmond, the acting division chief of the stormwater division, said the county is currently looking at the feasibility of adding three stormwater ponds and piping under Main Street to alleviate the flooding in the West End.

The three ponds would need to be built near the clover interchange of Route 29 and Route 40, said Richmond. The large amount of impervious highway at that interchange sends stormwater toward the West End. The three ponds and new piping installed under Frederick Road would reduce stormwater by about 15 to 20 percent, Richmond said.

However, the county can't simply build the ponds near the Route 29 interchange.

"That's all on state highway property," said Richmond, "we'd need to get permission. If they're going to expand, they might not give us approval."

Richmond said the consultants that advised the county to build the ponds estimated it would cost $6 to $8 million to build them.

"It's extremely tough to find that in our budget," said Richmond.

However, Richmond said short term solutions included maintaining the stream, fixing walls, and removing downed trees. But that can't be started immediately because most of the stream is on private property, which the county can't enter without homeowners' consent, said Richmond. 

He said the county is working with the Center for Watershed Protection, which is based in the Historic District, to form a public-private partnership to begin a stream maintenance program.

"That's where we are now," said Richmond.

Jim Caldwell, the stormwater manager for the office of environmental sustainability, likened where the community is now with residential stormwater management to where it was with recycling 30 years ago.

He said during the meeting that the county provides "not enough" education on how private property owners can manage stormwater. According to Caldwell, the Center for Watershed Protection plans on talking to residences upstream of the West End to help educate them on how the water that runs off their roofs, their driveways, can end up flooding residences down the street.

"We're in the process of educating everyone," said Caldwell, who added that the county plans to spend "big money" on outreach and education about stormwater management. 

Near the end of the meeting, Bickley summed up her thoughts on the problems the West End faces.

"I think there's an amazing opportunity with the West End," said Bickley. "One of the big things that kept this area down is the repeated flooding. Why would anyone want to spend money and put it into a home or business when it's just going to get destroyed?"

After hearing the comments at the meeting, County Council member Courtney Watson said that even if there's not money in the current capital budget to fund fixes to the problems, there may be money in the next budget cycle.

She said the first budget hearing with County Executive Ken Ulman is scheduled to take place in December.

"We are going to work through these solutions," said Watson. "We are going to identify things that are reasonable, feasible and the group agrees on them. We do care about you. We do care about the West End. I agree there's some untapped promise in that area."