Blight Ordinance Razes Lex Park Eyesore

The July meeting of the Lexington Park Business and Community Association  included some congratulations. A brand new county blight ordinance demolished the very house the Lex Park civic association had in mind in their search for anti-blight tools.

It was a blue house, dilapidated and drawing down property values in its surrounding Patuxent Park neighborhood. The vacant building attracted crime and vagrancy. As it fell apart it became an increasing safety hazard.

The Lexington Park civic association lobbied for anti-blight legislation for only the development districts in St. Mary’s County. The business owners and residents in Lexington Park intended to primarily target vacant buildings in declining neighborhoods in Lexington Park.

The ordinance drew support from the entire county and St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners adopted its provisions to apply county wide. But it is anticipated the majority of its targets will be in Lexington Park, MD. And that proved true for its first target, the notorious blue house on Midway Drive in the Patuxent Park neighborhood off Great Mills Road.

This historic neighborhood was built by some of the first naval aviators to arrive in Lexington Park, MD, during World War II. The region was rural and remote and housing was in short supply. Navy personnel were instrumental in building the infrastructure for the neighborhood named after the new naval air station, Patuxent Park. In large part the two-story homes remains intact and in relatively good repair for a 60-year-old district.

The Lexington Park Business and Community Association holds its monthly meetings the second Wednesday of the month at the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department. The meetings begin at 6:30 pm.

The next meeting is sheduled for August 13 and will begin with the ribbon cutting ceremony for FDR Blvd.