This is stupid. First of all Seven Oaks is way up the road from My Place. Second it is not considered past or the Strip or Boom Town, which is in Forte Meade, not Odenton. It is a few miles away from there. What you have is people once again trying to contr0l otehrs. I do not drink, nor do I go to bars, but this is outright stupid. Does anyone think of the owners and what will hapen to them w\ith the economy so bad at it is right now. Someone must have plans for the "Place". otherhwise they would leave it alone. Years ago it was a booming business. Filled up all weekend. It isn't even a third the business that it used to be so why not leave it alone. The eonomy is bad enough. Thank you for listening.

I have to agree with Debbie. Even the AA County Police have officially reported that My Place isn't any more of a problem than other bars in the county... Those targeting My Place obviously have an agenda to force the closure of most, if not all of the minority-owned "eyesores" along the strip so that rich developers can "rehabilitate" the area. Taking their agenda to the Liquor Board is a waste of time.

Way up the road? No... 295 is way up the road from 7 Oaks. Have either of the two previous posters been in the bar? I will never - it just looks scary. Have you been in the new Wine Box or seen the landscaping Dunkin just did? That's the way I want local businesses to look. My Place does not belong there in its current state- weeds, dirty and generally unattractive. It's not so much the business or bar itself but the way it looks and is run. I would have made that petition reach 50.

The shops Along 175 are an "eyesore". They promote both drugs and prostitution. Anyone who frequents the area knows of the crime that goes on near the "hotel". There are one too many liquor stores and no sign of an attempt at landscaping. I would have signed the petition if I was given a chance. "Minority-owned" business has nothing to do with its current state. Negligence and carelessness look to be the motivation. As a student who takes the bus to school everyday, I must witness the dismal enviornment that has become overwhelming. If Odenton puts forth a positive effort, there will be a positive result.

Having lived in the Odenton/Gambrills area, I refused to purchase a home in Seven Oaks community, and not because of the eyesores along the strip. The residents of Seven oaks should be more concerned with the communities they back up to. I am sure on those warm summer nights, the gun shots heard are not just from My Place. Seven Oaks backs up to 3 communities to include Pioneer City, that are infested with drug dealers and prostitutes. In the late 1980s a police station had to built in Pioneer City to help control the crime. The residents of Seven Oaks are worried about one bar, when they have Pioneer City in their back yards?!?!? My Place has had issues through the years, and the residents knew it was there when they decided to purchase a home in that area, what has changed, My Place is the same eyesore it has always been. Waste of time....

The entrance to Seven Oaks is down the block from My Place, but there are Seven Oaks homes directly behind the bar and its parking lot. The backyards of these homes abut the fence adjacent to the parking lot. You cannot get any closer to My Place than these Seven Oaks homes.

Poor poor pity me. What started out as a talk about the issue sounds like sissy party. There are drugs, weeds andoh it is so scary. That pure lame. Does the place need to be cleaned up, sure, but seen yards aruound that look worse than that. This is all about the BRAC. They want to draw a "different" type of person in the area. I made a geographical error Mr.Brennan. Sorry. "The Place" is in Odenton, but regardless, what I said still stands. It is about control and bringing in the money. Seven Oaks ought to be worried about the trash living there now and leave the bar alone. Maybe if the county put a few lights up outsiide My Place it wouldn't look so scawry. :)

You know. it isn't so much what My Place looks bad but it's surroundings. Why doesn't the little community do a litte bit of landscaping and leave the bar alone. I honestly can't believe a grown man if you are is calling the bar scary.It doesn't look bad. Are you on the community?? Like I said before, who is concerned with the owner, who is problably elderly, with a family to feed. Whoo cares about his welfare? Where will he go and find a job or another business. People always think about the gain not the person they are hurting. That is why this work s the way it is tiday. It is pitiful. People are not the ame any more.

While I agree there is a stretch along Rt. 175 that looks a bit run down, I can't see how another closed, boarded up, and vacant business is going to improve that. I would rather see positive solutions as to what we can do as a community to improve that area.

There have been several shootings in parking lots adjacent to the bar in the last few years. Just because this bar is 'just as bad as the others' does not make it acceptable - that argument if fundamentally flawed. While several commenters have alluded to the race issue (i.e., "scary" clientele inside) they must have neglected to walk around Seven Oaks. This is a racially and ethnically diverse community. We just don't like having crime coming in our community.
There are boarded up buildings in the Boom Town strip that are an eye sore and tagged with graffiti. The bars and boarded up businesses breed assaults and drug activity. Just because it's been there for years does not make it acceptable. We, as a community, need to fix the problem - not ignore it as Debbie, Double K and others would have us do.

I frequent several of the businesses in the Boomtown strip because they provide a quality service and are run by small business owners. The reputable businesses there will continue to struggle as long as the bars continue to bring them down. Clean them up not board them up.

If you're really interested in cleaning up your neighborhood, instead of going after My Place-- which is in comparatively decent shape, why don't you start by going after the two boarded up slum properties at 1616 and 1624 Annapolis Road (old China Plus restaurant and "shopping center" next door), both of which are owned by Odenton Properties, LLC (aka Frank E Dimick), C/O CMI Management Co, 1912 Liberty Rd, Eldersburg, MD 21784???

The two boarded-up properties you mention, Skip, have had an option on them for years with plans already finalized for redevelopment - but they are stuck in a right-of-way fight between the Seven Oaks Community and the Royal Inn. Even when developers try to bring in the services our community has been demanding for years, hurdles like this get in the way...and remember, this entire strip falls under the Odenton Town Center Master Plan, reapproved last year, with very specific guidelines for redevelopment (which, by the way, will not allow the "BRAC developers" to create huge office buildings along that strip - it must be mixed-use and is height-restricted).

There are some terrific businesses in North Odenton (the official name for Boomtown) and no one is intending to drive them out - but some have business practices that breed crime and impact surrounding businesses, and that's what GOIA was trying to address with My Place.

Those of you who are concerned about the future of this area should consider attending a meeting of the Odenton Town Plan Oversight Committee - it meets at 6:30 p.m. on the last Tuesday of every month at the Western District Police Station, and is responsible for overseeing the redevelopment of the Odenton Town Center within the county guidelines. It is made up of your neighbors, including several from Seven Oaks, and is open to the public. Odenton Patch also does an excellent job of reporting the Committee's activities.

I don't represent GOIA, but my understanding is that My Place is the only business in North Odenton that was or will be identified. No one has targeted the clientele - Odenton is a diverse community, as is Seven Oaks - the concern is about the history of violent incidences related to this particular establishment and a concern that a lax enforcement of alcohol laws by its manager is contributing to those incidences. Hence the appeal by GOIA, supported by the neighbors, to the liquor board. When the same manager was at the Traffic Bar, similar actions were being considered for the same reasons.

As to the reason the Oversight Committee meets at the Police Station, you may be aware that the rooms at the West County library are in high demand by the community and therefore not consistently available. In addition, the Oversight Committee's meetings frequently run past library closing hours. Meetings are held in the conference room of the Police Station, a community facility where all citizens should feel comfortable attending. I've never actually seen a member of the Western District police force in the four years I've been attending meetings there - they are out performing their jobs in the community. However, I will pass on your concern to our Chairman in case a more neutral site needs to be identified.

To all the people who do not live in the Seven Oaks Community, your opinion in the matter should not matter nor should it be taken under consideration, worry about your yard and your perfect home instead of the others. FYI these bars are within walking distance not only from houses but from a playground where children play everyday and yes indeed they are not playing at 2 am but the noise and the craziness is not a good asset to this community. Goodbye My Place find another place for it if you all love it soooo much!

You’ve got to be kidding! Get a grip, Odenton home owners do not have to remain hostage to any situation to include a place that serves as a breeding ground for irresponsible behavior perpetrated by thugs, cowards, punks, doped up, misguided, unfortunate, and any other characterization you might want to give these detestable gun toting hooligans. The fact is wicked people come in all colors, shapes and sizes so keep the “race card” (that some seem to hint at on this thread ) in your back pocket to pull on something more fitting. Be real and call a spade a spade and judge based on behavior/results and get over the rest. My Place or any other establishments that is a menace to society should be cleaned up or shut down!

For those with the “do nothing” mentality because” the strip and the surrounding area has always been this way” can just keep it moving and live with your shackles or better yet I have a solution for you My Place sympathizers, please, please, please start a petition to relocate the bar in your back yard and live with the results! Just remember at 3 AM when the so called “civic minded, neighborhood friendly” My Place bar owner is sitting back counting his money and let loose his alcohol charged, irresponsible, gun toting clientele in your back yard to act on every testosterone driven rage by challenging anyone who so slightly looks at him wrong or accidently bumps into him, ooooh remember you too can find solace by calling your” it’s no worse than any other bar in Anne Arundel county” police officers to clean up the mess. I for one commend the GOIA and the legitimate businesses owners and Seven Oaks home owners for not accepting the status quo and taking a stand to make a change in this Odenton community. I hope the good folks of this community will continue to rebuke the hatter filled, mentally shackled, do nothing about your surroundings crowd. Let the guilty reply…..

From being in the military and going to several bases one very unfortunate thing is common - the immediate areas are all garbage - dive bars, run down businesses, adult shops, etc...which is all the fault of zoning and the county itself. That retail strip by Ft. Meade is no different - total run-down garbage; dive bars, the obligatory adult shop, vacant buildings and only serve to keep surrounding prices down.

I asked to meet with GOIA to address any issues the have with how I run my business, and of course they didn't want to do that. I'm still waiting. If any of you have concerns about anythig concerning my place I am willing and ready to work to resolve any problems

MyPlace, it isn't your business I have an issue with, it's your location. Unfortunately you are directly behind many residences, including ours. While I will say that the noise coming from inside your club has slightly improved over the last 6 months or so, the crowd outside your establishment continues to rattle our windows with loud bass and roaring motorcycles. Not to mention, it's an ugly building - plain and simple. No uglier than most of the establishments in Boomtown, but an eyesore nonetheless.