A Catonsville developer wants to build 164 luxury apartments on South Rolling Road near Patapsco Valley State Parks’ popular Soapstone trailhead, but some community members worry the project will increase traffic and overcrowd schools.

Developer Steve Whalen proposed a planned unit development on a 5.4-acre parcel across the road from the Soapstone trailhead and just south of the Southwest Park and Ride.

Whalen acquired the land, bounded by the on-ramp to Interstate 195 and Rolling Road, in 2013 for $600,000. There’s one house, dating to 1937, on the wooded tract.

The developer envisions four levels of luxury rental units in a gated community, an option he said Catonsville currently lacks. The one- and two-bedroom apartments would be aimed at empty-nesters and young professionals in the Baltimore-Washington region who may work at the nearby University of Maryland, Baltimore County or commute to work using the Park and Ride.

No plans have been drawn up yet, but Whalen estimated the complex would cost around $45 million to build.

“This product does not exist in Catonsville,” said Whalen, comparing it, conceptually, to Oella Mills. “The kinds of open-space amenities that they offer, the fee of rent that they charge — that’s the kind of thing, that’s really what we’re trying to capture here.”

On social media, community members called the proposed location ridiculous and said public infrastructure, including roadways and schools, would not be able to handle an influx of people there. Residents who said they live near the proposed apartment site did not respond to requests to be interviewed.

County Councilman Tom Quirk also expressed concerns about the potential impact on roads and area schools that are already nearing or at capacity. He floated the idea of an age-restricted development for tenants 55 years or older.

“Traffic over there is absolutely terrible,” Quirk said.

In 2019, an average of 9,230 vehicles passed through the South Rolling Road corridor on a daily basis, according to data from the Maryland Department of Transportation. During peak hours between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., according to 2015 traffic congestion maps from the State Highway Administration, that section of road was either moderately or highly congested.

Whalen, who lives nearby on Foxhall Farm Road, acknowledged concern over traffic backups, but said the situation is manageable and does not expect traffic produced by the development in the evening hours — the worst time for congestion there — to have much of an impact.

Per the Baltimore County Public Schools projected pupil yield formula, the development could add 29 more students to all grade levels, including six new students at Catonsville High School, which is already at 104% capacity and is expected to become more crowded.

But with the complex offering only one- and two-bedroom apartments, Whalen said he does not expect the project add that many students to the county school system.

He said he is considering age-restricted housing but wants to build a “market-driven product at the high end.”

In the application for the planned unit development, Whalen proposed retaining 20% of the property’s green space on the property. He also would build a walking trail around the complex that extends across South Rolling Road to connect to the Soapstone trail.

Whalen also proffered some money to improve Soapstone, which Dave Ferraro, executive director of the Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park, called “an incredibly busy trailhead.”

Ferraro said traffic safety is already a concern with the large number of vehicles park along South Rolling Road to use the state park without a 164-unit development across the street.

“It sounds like it’s early stages, but [Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park] and Park Service generally can be a real asset to these developers, if we have responsible development,” Ferraro said.

Whalen first must secure the approval of the Baltimore County Council for the planned unit development, which will give him more flexibility with land-use regulations.

Pending community buy-in, Quirk said he’s taken a neutral position on the planned unit development or the project at this point. A virtual community input meeting on the proposal is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 23.