Ask almost anyone in Charles County and they will tell you that residential development is out of control. This does not just happen. It is all about zoning. There is a county document called the “Table of Permissible Uses.” This table tells you what exactly is allowed to be built in each zone. Now it is bad enough when a permissible use of Agricultural Conservation is a development of single family homes, one home/three acres, but to have our elected officials seek to add development to areas which under present laws and ordinances prohibit it is intolerable. Pomfret, LLC has submitted an application (RC (D) Base Zone Restoration) to build a development that leaks into the boundaries of the Mattawoman Creek Stream Valley. Tributaries of the Creek weave like fingers throughout the entire site. As it stands now, development of this intensity is not possible unless removal of the overlay zone is approved or unless the Commissioners “deem it appropriate.”
Creek Side Properties located in Mason Springs is now also asking for this same RC(D) Base Zone Restoration. I suspect there will many more of these applications and based on our poor county history, they are likely to be approved. And the thing is these two sites are OUTSIDE of the Development District proper. This will in no uncertain terms cause irreparable damage to the Mattawoman. Yet perhaps this time the commissioners will follow the good science and deny these applications or better still enact legislation to see that it is not possible that this type of devastation ever happen. Furthermore, where will the children in these developments go to school?
Shared septic legislation is also being looked at by the County Commissioners. Normally in order to build, a particular plat must perc, or the drainage must be good enough that will allow for a safe and healthy septic system. Shared septics allow those plats that perc to have septics on them and be shared by those in the same parcel of land which do not perc. In older neighborhoods and in some new business development this can be a good thing; however, if this is approved for Charles County, unlike the stringent criteria which Calvert imposes, this legislation would be used to increase the residential development which would otherwise not be allowed. There is no doubt in my mind that some version of this legislation will be passed. But, again, maybe I am wrong and this time the commissioners will take the road to the 21st century.
For some reason, our commissioners (and I do not only mean those currently sitting) cannot say no to developers….just no. Not maybe or not let us tweak it a little to make it more palatable to the general public, but just no. And because it is not only the current commissioners, but previous ones also (most of them), this shows me and in my opinion that the elected officials in Charles County have always had and still have a very unhealthy connection to developers.
The Development District in Charles County is larger than all of Washington, DC. It was included in the Comprehensive Plan twenty years ago. Most of us have learned a great deal since then about our environment and what it takes to save our natural resources (Where Eagles Fly?). Apparently our officials have not learned this and are still operating on the 20 year old erroneous data. The Development District should be reduced in light of this knowledge. The zoning of our entire county needs to change in accordance with the current scientific information which is now available.
In 2005, The Swan Point – US Steel “Utilities/Development” agreement should never have been signed by Commissioner Cooper. But because of the thirst of our commissioners and developers for growth,