ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Riva Trace Baptist Church's plans to relocate and expand have been delayed, despite the fact developers are eager to purchase the land and replace the church with two-story townhouses, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Residents of the nearby Cape St. John neighborhood are seeking to stop the development. They say it would increase traffic and lower the value of their homes.

"We don't see how adding 50 townhouses to the Riva Road corridor will solve the traffic issues on Riva Road," said Dan Semick, president of Cape St. John Citizens Association Inc.

Opponents say the Riva Trace area was capped at 526 units and there are already 521 units there. Developers, however, say the cap is set at 577 units, according to the newspaper.

"We truly believe that, or we wouldn't be going ahead with this," said Karen McJunkin, vice president of Elm Street Development Inc. of McLean, Va. She recently said the number of townhouses proposed could be reduced slightly, the newspaper reported. The townhouses will sell for roughly $400,000 each.

The project is on hold until July, when a county hearing officer is expected to review a request to alter the original development plan for the Riva Trace community. That document sets aside land for a church. Elm Street wants to trade the church for townhouses and seeks a reduction in buffer size and setback.

Church officials said they plan to move regardless of the outcome of Elm Street's proposal because the 5.8-acre lot is too small. About 800 adults attend three worship services every Sunday, said Keith Hammer, pastor of education and church operations.

Three trailers were moved onto the property for Bible study classes and church offices were moved to one of the trailers to make room for a nursery, the newspaper reported.

"We have done everything we can with the space we have," said Hammer. The church has a contract to buy a larger lot.

The church almost sold the property to Annapolis Life Care in 2000, but community concerns about a buffer caused that deal to fall apart. Hammer said the church is "focused" on making the Elm Street deal work.

"It is disappointing that it is not a process that has been made easy," he said. "But, we selected Elm Street because they have a record of being sensitive to community needs. We don't want to go through this again."