“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” is the sound of many developers reminiscent of children in a car ride. Calvert County is experiencing an ongoing commercial and residential development growth as a methodical, deliberate, and thoughtful ride. Left unchecked as envisioned by some, Calvert County would accelerate to quickly become paved with shopping centers, traffic lights, and high density development. No open space would be safe from a developer’s leer. Do we continue to retain a rural character or become like other more densely populated Washington Metro area counties? The pace of growth is the most critical topic for local citizens to decide this year.
Dunkirk Area Concerned Citizens Association (DACCA), represented by its President Evan Slaughenhoupt attended the June 15, Reality Check Plus day long Southern Maryland “visioning exercise” at St. Mary’s College. Combined with other pro-growth forces Reality Check Plus will replace controlled progress with rampant development all in the name of growth. Having already conducted Western, Central, and Eastern Regional sessions, this was the fourth such event. Touted to begin a “…regional and statewide dialogue that will result in better-management development in Maryland.” the theme “think regional” clearly exposed the bottom line purpose. Left unchecked, Reality Check Plus will lead to enforcement of State-wide mandated dictums replacing local jurisdiction over Planning and Zoning.
Participants placed Lego Blocks on maps indicating likely growth areas for housing and jobs. Obvious areas (Priority Funding Areas) were indicated, mostly concentrating around Town Centers; and the participants were encouraged to go-along “like good little lemmings”. The technique employed by Reality Check Plus forced participants to use the total number of blocks regardless of rationality of the likely growth projections. Given the set of rules employed, the results were obvious (like the child’s game of guessing only one number between 1 and 3). One can conclude that it has already been determined that Calvert County must absorb the projected growth (and presumably the only way is for the state to take over).
Reality Check Plus claims to be seeking input from the citizens of Maryland, however, representation at the Southern Maryland event was clearly slanted towards the developers (and not the citizens). Based in part on the four regional events, Reality Check Plus will release a report Blueprint for a Prosperous Maryland September 26, 2006. Presumably, they will use these regional events as foundational justification from the citizens. Of course, one way for them to meet that date is for the report and preconceived conclusions to already be completed (even before the regional events). At least $300,000 is being spent (invested) by a consortium of sponsors most notably the Homebuilders Association of Maryland, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and a host of builders. Inclusion of various environmental interest groups and their ability to favorably retard over-construction remains to be seen.
Make no mistake about it, there is a concerted effort this election year to change direction and begin paving over Calvert County. Citizens need to arise this calendar year and pay particular attention to the state and local candidates and their positions. Otherwise the forces of “growth” will remove the open space areas, construct unlimited commercial and housing developments, and change Calvert County to become simply like other more densely populated nearby counties.