Arnold Preservation Council

NEWSLETTER

Vol. 11 No. 1 March 8, 2010

THE MISSION OF THE ARNOLD PRESERVATION COUNCIL IS TO UNITE THE PEOPLE OF ARNOLD TO ENHANCE ARNOLD'S IDENTITY AS A DESIRABLE COMMUNITY THAT PRESERVES ITS RURAL HERITAGE AND ENVIRONMENT BY ADVOCATING RESPONSIBLE GROWTH, LINKED NEIGHBORHOODS, LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES, AND EXCELLENT SCHOOLS.

P.O. Box 852, Arnold, Maryland 21012-0852

www.preservearnold.org

 

The next APC meeting will be on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Chesapeake Academy Conference Room, 1185 Baltimore & Annapolis Blvd, Arnold
Inclement weather and APC meetings: If schools are closed or close early, APC’s meeting will be cancelled.

Contact info@preservearnold.org to receive newsletter by email.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/CALENDAR

EARTH DAY EVENT Saturday, April 24, 2010

Next APC Meeting – May 10, 2010

Earth Day 2010 at St. Martins in the Field, Benfield Road, Severna Park Maryland
We are currently accepting applications from Exhibitors. Registration form HERE. Waiver form HERE.

You can pre-order Rain Barrels before April 16th for $60 for pick-up at St. Martins during the Earth Day event. Order Form HERE. Make checks payable to Anne Arundel County Public Schools and include 6% sales tax. For pictures of the Rain Barrels and more information about their benefits, or to order after the April 16th deadline, visit the Arlington Echo Website.

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Chase Creek

MINUTES OF GENERAL MEETING

MARCH 8, 2010

The meeting was called to order by President Sue Freeman at 7:30. There were 10 people in attendance.

Financial Report: There is no treasurer, so Sue Freeman reported the TD Balance is $6749.04.

Audit of the books is continuing as Sue is learning more about Quick Books.

Zoning Issues:

Jordan Property - Sue Freeman and Eliot Powell met with Speaker Busch on March 4 in an effort to gain support for the purchase of the property for a park. At this time there is still negotiation going on as to a compromise about usage. When the General development plan was passed by the County Council, the land use for the Jordan property was changed to commercial. This does not change the zoning to commercial yet, but is a first step.

Comprehensive Zoning - The deadline for zoning applications has passed. There were 250 applications submitted county-wide. The County Council will make these public by approximately the end of April. On the other hand, this council may postpone action. Applications may still be Comprehensive Zoning continued - submitted to the Council for their consideration, but there would not be as much review of these last minute applications.

Koch Homes - Latest update from Koch Homes spokesman, Kevin Lusby, re: their Deep Creek Villas project is:

County Council: Bill 7-10 passed - which creates a new category of land use - Small Business District.

This would allow expansion of those businesses that now have an allowednon-conforming use in residential zoning. This is limited to major Highways- like Ritchie or Veterans, etc.

The Forthofer Property falls in this category.

Forthofer Property-What used to be Karlton’s Florist is now operated as a consignment shop and hair salon with apartments above. The parcel is located on the W. side of Ritchie Hwy as you approach Rt 50.

The property owners asked the Administrative Hearing Officer (AHO) to re-zone this residential property to a commercial category. Based on strong testimony in opposition to the re-zoning from the surrounding neighbors and communities, the AHO declined to up- zone the property. The Forthofers appealed this decision to the Board of Appeals, but now have asked that the appeal not be heard until sometime in mid 2010. The property owners hope that the property will be up-zoned during the upcoming comprehensive re-zoning process so that the appeal will be unnecessary.

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DIANE REY,

Candidate for County Council representing District 5 was a guest at the meeting. The Board had agreed that the same questions would be asked of any candidate who chose to speak to us.

Q1. What would you do as a way to pay for all of the unfunded stormwater and school maintenance projects that cannot likely be done?

A1. The County is going to have to do more with less. The need is to maximize the use of revenue allowed. She plans to spend a lot of time with the County Auditor checking into funding abuses.

 

Q2. What do you see as the biggest issue facing Arnold? How would you resolve it?

A2. Quality of life! The Council needs to be mindful of the fact that people move to Arnold to experience the great quality of life here. We need to make sure that council actions do not impair that quality.

 

Q3. What is your position regarding this statement of the Growth Action Network, especially in regard to the Broadneck Small Area Plan? "The GDPP should include an explicit statement of the continuing validity of the goals, objectives, policies, and land use designations of the Small Area Plans wherever they have not been modified by the GDP."

Q4. Will you back us and help us in getting the County to help buy the Jordan Property for a park?

The last two questions generated a lively discussion among members. Ms Rey said she is "in a listening mode" and wants to hear what the voters in District 5 want.


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The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM. The next general meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 13 at 7:30.

Respectfully submitted,

Lucy Iliff, Recording Secretary

NEWLY ORGANIZED . . . . . .

Maryland League of Conservation Voters

Anne Arundel Chapter

A small band of energized volunteers has vowed to make county politicians accountable by starting the Anne Arundel Chapter of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. This new AA County Chapter will research and track the statements and voting records of office holders and candidates and publish the results for voters. Where appropriate, we will endorse and support candidates campaigns.

See http://mdlcv.org/ for more information.

APC Membership

For 2010

There is a membership form attached to this newsletter. We appreciate the support of our 65 + members who have continued to be a part of our Council if only on paper and via emails. It gives us a degree of import in certain venues where APC can make a difference and continue to speak for reasoned growth.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

REPORT FROM GROWTH ACTION (GA) NETWORK 3/8/10

Ann M. Fligsten

GA is a project of the Arnold Preservation Council. It is a coalition of noon-profits, community organizations and individuals who want growth that does not further damage our environment. Growth where infrastructure is sufficient!

GA was very involved with the County’s General Development Plan that sets County policy for the next ten years. There is much about the plan that is laudable, but citizen support will be necessary to make sure the plan is implemented.

Now the Comprehensive Rezoning Process has begun.

COMPREHENSIVE RE-ZONING IN AA COUNTY

Following adoption of the 2009 General Development Plan (GDP) last fall, the Office of Planning and Zoning initiated the Comprehensive Re- Zoning process. (CRZ)

Comprehensive re-zoning occurs after the adoption of a new General Development Plan (GDP), generally every 10 to 12 years. Any re-zoning should support the GDP and its principles. The GDP also made a number of land use changes that are not rezoning, but can pave the way for rezoning.

For example in the GDP a certain parcel was changed from “residential” to “commercial.” This is not a change in zoning. However, during the CRZ process, the owner of this parcel may apply for commercial zoning of various types.

During CRZ, any property owner may ask for a re-zoning from one category to another—often the application will be for an “up-zoning” that will make the permitted use of the property more intense.

Examples of up zoning in residential land would be from R-1 (one house per acre) to R-5 (5 houses per acre) or to R-15 (15 dwellings per acre) Outside of the CRZ process, any zoning changes are called “piecemeal rezoning” and are discouraged by law. Applications were received from December 2009 through February 2010. There are over 200 re-zoning applications that are pending.

All applications will be evaluated first by the Office of Planning and Zoning against the criteria set in the GDP. The Planning Advisory Board will then hold hearings on re-zoning requests. Applicants will receive notification of the recommendation for the property before a re-zoning bill is introduced. The bill of proposed zoning changes goes to the County Council for hearings and a Council vote. Members of Council supporting additional zoning changes may amend the final bill to include changes in zoning that have not gone through a full review.

Information on Comprehensive Zoning may be found in the 2009 General Development Plan (Final Draft April 2009) in the section entitled “Relationship of the Land Use Plan and Comprehensive Zoning” (Chapter 7, page 114). The section explains the criteria used by the Office of Planning and Zoning in evaluating Comprehensive Zoning Applications.

For additional information on this process, please contact Lynn Miller or Cindy Carrier in the Long Range Planning Division, Office of Planning and Zoning, at (410) 222-7432.

You can find out more about what GA is doing by going to our website-growthaction.net.

COORDINATOR FOR GA

To maximize the effectiveness of the great knowledge and energy of the GA Network, it has been decided that hiring a coordinator would be help achieve GA’s great potential.

Ann Fligsten is interested in becoming a part-time coordinator and is seeking funding from members and others to fund this position. APC acts as the fiscal agent for the network. GA received prior foundation grants for a forum on growth in 2007 from the Abell Foundation in Baltimore and for the development of a GA website from the Keith Campbell Foundation in Annapolis.

Fligsten hopes to start by May 1, 2010.

DELAYING IMPACT FEES-County Council Bill 12-10


A principle that we learned from our Forum speaker, Eben Fodor, author of Better Not Bigger, is that new growth does not pay for the increased services required to support growth.

A technique used by many jurisdictions is to impose an “impact fee” to recover part or most of the cost of growth-primarily additional costs for roads, schools and safety. Anne Arundel County has had extremely low impact fees for the past 20 years.

The Administration and the County Council crafted a bill in 2008 that was passed by the County Council that phased in impact fees to eventually recapture 80% of the cost of residential growth. The phased in schedule was in recognition of the tough economic times faced by us all. However, now 4 members of the County Council have introduced a bill that will delay increases in impact fees even further. These impact fees are real and when developers do not pay the full cost of development, the taxpayers pay it directly or indirectly by diminished quality of life. Growth Action members will try to allow a full an open debate on this issue so that it is clear who will bear the burden and why.

File written by Adobe Photoshop® 4.0

Pines on Severn Beach circa 1930s

ARNOLD HISTORY UPDATE

Alberta Stornetta

An interview with Noel Durm, former owner of the old Arnold Pharmacy, had to be cancelled because of snow. A new date in March is planned.

Mike Calabrese has put together a terrific power point presentation on the history of Glen Oban. He will give the presentation at our next general meeting on May 10.

MAGOTHY RIVER ASSOCIATION

Diane Scherer: The eighth annual State of the Magothy was held at AACC in February Peter Bergstrom, fisheries biologist at NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office, presented the annual report. Based on three indices (bay grasses, water clarity and dissolved oxygen) at 22 sites in the river, the Magothy was graded "D." The full report is available at magothyriver.org.

Carolyn Winter from the World Bank spoke on a MRA-WB partnership aimed at applying local community volunteer efforts to fisheries and water quality projects in Africa. Russ Stevenson (head of the MRA's governmental affairs committee) reported on efforts to promote environmentally responsible land use. One recent case involves the proposed Deep Creek Villas at the headwaters of Deep Creek, which the developer has appealed.

Following the failure to negotiate the purchase of Dobbins Island in December, the MRA is pursuing the idea of designating the Dobbins anchorage as a marine preserve and park. A decision on the beach access case (heard in September) is still pending.

In the Little Island case, Daryl Wagner, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Army Corps of Engineers agreed upon a non-judicial settlement for various wetlands violations. Mr. Wagner agreed to pay $40,000 in fines for non-permitted disturbances to the critical area buffer and tidal wetlands. The settlement has no impact on the two outstanding court cases filed by the Critical Area Commission and the County.

Planned spring activities include dumpsite cleanups and the annual Earth Day dive.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Alberta Stornetta, Recording Secretary