BERLIN – Real Fresh. Real Fast.
It’s a motto some don’t want to see in Berlin.
Royal Farms, a name known throughout the Mid-Atlantic area for its catchy slogan and blue and green logo, is poised to set up shop in Berlin at the intersection of Friendship Road and Route 50.
While many are excited to see another major business come to Berlin, others are concerned about what it will do to the area.
“It’s not a good idea,” said Ankur Patel, who runs the Exxon station just across from the site of the proposed Royal Farms. “This is a small town with small businesses. A big station will come in here and hurt everyone.”
Patel says he collected 150 signatures of customers opposed to the construction of a Royal Farms at the intersection and sent them to Berlin’s town hall. He also plans to attend any public hearings that take place during the process to voice his opposition.
He’s not the only one. Paul Cerniglia, a resident of nearby Lake Haven Mobile Home Park, also doesn’t want to see a Royal Farms added to what he considers an already busy intersection.
“I think it’d be too much traffic up there,” he said. “Anytime during the day that’s a busy intersection.”
In spite of the concerns shared by some, the process for bringing the store to Berlin has already begun. According to Mayor Gee Williams, the plan to move Arby’s to a parcel to the west and to build a Royal Farms where the fast food restaurant is now moving ahead.
Williams said once the site gets added to the town’s growth area, something he considers “likely,” the property owners will petition the town for annexation. Public hearings will be held before the property is formally added to Berlin’s growth area and again when the town council considers annexation, which Williams says could be as early as February.
“Before spring this will be resolved,” he said.
Williams looks forward to more development in Berlin. For more than a decade, construction was halted in town as the municipality struggled to address its wastewater concerns. Now that the town has a state-of-the-art $24 million wastewater treatment plant on line, Williams says it’s ready to expand.
“We did not invest $24 million of the public’s money in order to stifle growth,” he said.
Key areas for growth, he said, were the town’s main entrances — Route 50, Route 113 and Route 346.
“We have barely scratched the surface in developing the gateways to our town …,” Williams said. “Our goal over time is to bring more people to the Berlin area regionally. They can’t come if you don’t have what they need.”
As for concerns about traffic at the intersection of Friendship Road and Route 50, Williams said the State Highway Administration had just completed significant improvements there. He said it had been expanded to handle a significantly larger traffic volume. A major part of the project was adding a new turn lane in the westbound lane to access Seahawk Road toward the high and middle schools.
While Patel pointed to the vacant Harley Davidson building and the soon-to-be empty McDonald’s on the other side of the intersection as signs the area wasn’t ready for further commercial development, Williams said he was optimistic about the town’s future. He believes those locations will be redeveloped as more commercial sites are needed, particularly since they are passed by millions of people headed to Ocean City.
“I’m convinced we live in a place many people wish to live,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do everything we can to make our town special. Berlin sat in the shadow of Ocean City for 80 years. Those days are gone forever … It’s not in our social, cultural or financial interest to stifle growth.”