Published: November 24, 2007 07:05 pm      

Developers will make the call

A funny thing happened on the way to the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

I attended the planning commission meeting on Sept. 26, as I have for several years. That was the public hearing held at the end of a process that began in early 2006 when the county decided to develop a comprehensive plan for the LaVale Planning Region.

During the hearing, residents were invited to offer comments and suggestions. Some were minor changes, some were new, and some had been offered before. Generally, people were satisfied with what they had read in the plan and what was explained to them by the county planning staff at this and previous public meetings.

Routine stuff, you’d say. But wait — here’s the interesting part.

At the end of the meeting, the project manager for Terrapin Run and attorney Bob Paye, speaking on behalf of his current and future developer clients, objected to the plan because it would determine how land might be zoned in the rest of the county.

Mr. Paye argued that “further dialogue” was needed because realtors and developers didn’t realize what was in the plan, an interesting observation when you consider that the plan had been in progress for a year and a half and that Mr. Paye had attended numerous meetings where it had been discussed. He argued that the plan would run counter to what “the county wants.” Hmmm . . . never mind that it represented what residents had worked on for months and had thought was best for their community.

Here’s what caught their eye: (1) that “competing or inconsistent uses, such as large-scale residential development, should be discouraged” in areas designated for agriculture and forestry, and (2) that a new zone called Residential Estate would be established for “high quality, low density residential development while maintaining open space and preserving scenic views and rural character” designed to “minimize the footprint of development.”

Other new zones, ranging from “low density” to “high density,” had been identified to accommodate more concentrated development, depending on topography and the character of surrounding neighborhoods.

I didn’t think too much about these last minute protests because the planning commission had worked diligently to develop what looked like a common sense plan. They had been working on it for months and had convinced anyone who was following it carefully that it made sense. Besides, I thought, how could a developer from down state count for more than current residents?

Then, on Monday, Oct. 15, a letter from the Realtors Association appeared in the newspaper, protesting the plan. They cited “draconian restrictions on residential development” and “inflexibility” in the plan. How can that be, I thought, when we’ve been told that the land identified for development in LaVale can already accommodate all the growth that is expected to take place in Allegany County for the next 10 years?

Two days later, at the Oct. 17 planning commission meeting, “BOOM!” as John Madden says. Everything changed.

A new presentation flashed on the screen, one that residents hadn’t seen before, introduced weeks after the public hearing was over, long after the public comment period had closed. “Large-scale residential development” was no longer “discouraged” in areas best suited for agriculture and forestry. Instead what we saw was, “It is expected that agriculture and forestry areas within the county will encompass significantly less acreage in the future.”

And what happened to that Residential Estate designation?

After wading through a lot of confusion, you can get to the crux of it. “Large-scale residential development” with commercial areas and strip malls — “planned unit developments sometimes referred to as planned residential communities” — “should be encouraged” in this area and all other residential areas of LaVale. Not a single question from the planning commission, not one comment. One person in the audience expressed confusion, but the planning director insisted, “Nothing had changed.”

Oh, really?

Without comment, without questions, we’re back where we started — encouraging developers who come here and buy cheap land to determine how, when and where Allegany County will grow — and it may be in your neighbor’s yard.

So much for common sense.

The score so far: Developers 1, Residents 0.

Dale Sams

Cumberland