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| Bay Net photos by Sean Rice |
Three of five St. Mary’s Commissioners have personal connections to the 92,000-plus square-foot expansion of Wal-Mart in the works.
Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R-Golden Beach) removed himself from discussions Tuesday when the board considered approving the transfer of 93 transferable development rights (TDRs), required for the expansion. He is required to, he said, because his campaign finance manager is involved in the transaction and stands to gain near $500,000 from the deal.
Commissioners Tommy McKay (R-Hollywood) and Dan Raley (D-Great Mills) could potentially be harmed by the expansion, as each man is a co-owner of grocery stores in the county that bear their names. The expanded Super Wal-Mart will include a full grocery section.
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The county Ethics Commission ruled earlier this year there is no conflict of interest with McKay and Raley being part of the decision making for the Wal-Mart expansion.
If the decision had come down the other way, a majority of the board would have had to leave the room during the discussion, as Jarboe did.
The board on Tuesday approved the TDR transfer, but asked that the traffic mitigation plan be brought to the board for inspection before the final go-ahead is given by the county land use department. Traffic plan approval is typically a step handled administratively by county land use staffers.
Before McKay started his points of discussion, he stated he is not against the expansion.
“Personally, I’d rather see they not do it, I’ll be honest. But on the other hand, the competition will be fun, it will be a good challenge,” McKay said. “And it’s going to happen, I’m not here to stop it.”
McKay questioned the number of TDRs required for the project and the traffic impact after the store nearly doubles in size.
Wal-Mart is required to purchase TDRs because the store will exceed a 60,000 square foot threshold in the zoning law. When the deal is done, the TDRs will protect 255 acres elsewhere in the county from ever being developed.
McKay asked Land Use Director Denis Canavan to recalculate the required number of TDRs because the 18×120 foot concrete area on the plans for “compressor houses” and another area for a permanent canopy was not included a part of the building.
Raley noted that all four intersections near the Wal-Mart plaza will be at or near a failing grade when the project is complete; and McKay noted an email from the land use department states the adequate public facilities requirements may not be met, regarding traffic mitigation.
“The citizens of St. Mary’s County deserve that when the largest retailer in the world is coming into our county with this kind of expansion, that they’re not going to have