Keep Calvert Country Info
Posted: 2018-07-04
NOTE: We learned after publication of this blog that the PC will begin detailed review of the Comp Plan at its regular meeting on July 18th. If you wish to submit comments for that meeting, the deadline is Friday, July 6th. (But they will continue to accept comments after that date for future meetings.) To make it easier for citizens to submit comments, we’ve created this form, which sends your comments directly to the PC and the Commissioners. Introduction:We are very grateful to four members of the Planning Commission who voted to carefully review each section of the draft Comprehensive Plan ……
Keep Calvert Country is asking citizens of Calvert County to join us in petitioning the Planning Commission to perform detailed studies of the growth proposed in the Comprehensive Plan before approving it.
BACKGROUND INFO:
THE ISSUE OF TRAFFIC:
The biggest quality of life issue that the County is facing: the Commissioners’ own projection that traffic volume will increase to 83,500 trips per day (or 72%) through Prince Frederick by 2030. And of course that traffic increase will be felt along the entire MD 4 corridor.
Yet this is what the draft Comprehensive Plan says about it:
“The increases in traffic volume during the years of rapid growth still affect the perception of traffic volume changes that Calvert County residents report today. The county has not seen increasing levels of traffic along the primary county arterial road in recent years.”
State Law:
The Commissioners are refusing to study traffic even though State Law requires that:
“A Planning Commission shall prepare a Comprehensive Plan by carefully and comprehensively surveying and studying the present conditions and projections of future growth of the local jurisdiction.”
While the current draft of the Comprehensive Plan includes information about “present conditions”, it lacks evidence that “projections of future growth” have been “carefully and comprehensively studied”.
To comply with State law and to ensure continued quality of life for citizens, the Planning Commission must study the effects of growth on traffic, schools, the environment, budget, etc. before any growth is proposed.
Growth Proposals:
Without mention of any studies, the current draft of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan proposes extensive growth by:
1. eliminating the “build-out” provisions of the current Plan, which limits total number of households to approx. 37,000; and
2. expanding the size of Town Centers as shown below:
3. increasing the size of Residential Areas surrounding the Dunkirk, Lusby and Solomons Town Centers. 4. allowing water and sewer in Residential Areas in order to achieve higher densities and additional growth; and
5. making Dunkirk a Major Town Center, which translates to higher density residential and more intensive commercial growth aimed at serving the region rather than serving local needs.
Request:
To comply with State law, the Comprehensive Plan should not propose any growth until proper studies have been conducted and the results have been presented to the Planning Commission and the public, with adequate time for review, questions, and comments.
If studies have in fact been conducted, the results should be included in the Plan. We are asking that the results be shared with the public and the Planning Commission in a public presentation, with adequate time for review, questions, and comments.
Sign Our Petition
We’re asking the Planning Commission to conduct studies about the effects of growth on traffic, schools, the environment & our quality of life before they approve the Comp Plan.
Sign Petition
