Alerts!
Open House!
Wed. Jan 28
Wed. Jan 28
6:30-8:30 PM
Indian Head Pavilion
(map here)
Joint Land-Use Study for Naval Support Facility, Indian Head
Smarter
land-use policies will protect the base, protect its stewardship
investment in the environment, and benefit Mattawoman Creek.
And thank you to the many who attended the open house on January 14!
Charles County's draft Comprehensive Plan approved by Planning Commission on January 12!
Degradation of Mattawoman to continue!
The Planning Commission showed a desire to make substantive positive steps, but was never given the chance to consider 2000 comments on the draft plan.
Hence the plan:
- promotes the failed Cross County Connector
-Permits were denied in 2012 for being "contrary to the public interest."
-Would be a death knell for Mattawoman Creek from the polluted stormwater running from facilitated sprawl development.
-Would be a death knell for Mattawoman Creek from the polluted stormwater running from facilitated sprawl development.
- promotes the failed Tech Park in Bryans Road
-Forested land is extremely sensitive environmentally
-Headwaters to a key Mattawoman tributary
-Market study finds area not viable as better sites with existing infrastructrue are available.
-Headwaters to a key Mattawoman tributary
-Market study finds area not viable as better sites with existing infrastructrue are available.
- promotes continuation of a "Development District" bigger than Washington DC
-Has brought Mattawoman to the "tipping point" for irreversible degradation from overdevelopment.
- promotes continuation of Bryans Road as a new urban center
-Reliant on unpermittable Cross County Connector.
-In a Stronghold Watershed.
-Core zoned for 8000 dense housing units under airport flight path.
-Strongly opposed by local residents.
The "Comp Plan" is the blueprint for where and how growth occurs. The Planning Commission took the positive step of converting most of the "deferred development district to a "watershed conservation district." But not before undeferring 1150 acres of it, 120 acres of which drain to a high quality (Tier II) stream. These changes are pending an approval process.
Unfortunately, the plan passed on to the state on January 12 for a 60 day review still calls for unbridled sprawl-development that is destroying Mattawoman with polluted runoff. These same policies have also placed Charles County on the bottom rung for property tax rate, use of school trailers, commute time, teacher pay, and more.
To learn more about the costs of sprawl, and about a smarter way to grow, download this presentation (pdf).
The public is hungry to stem reckless growth. At a hearing on the Comp Plan in October of 2013, written comments opposed to sprawl-development policies outnumbered those in favor by 2000 to 30.
What you can do:
-Sign the petition at the website of the Smarter Growth Alliance for Charles County.
-Like the Smarter Growth Alliance for Charles County Facebook page for frequent updates.
-Like the Facebook for the Mattawoman Watershed Society to receive updates.
Unfortunately, the plan passed on to the state on January 12 for a 60 day review still calls for unbridled sprawl-development that is destroying Mattawoman with polluted runoff. These same policies have also placed Charles County on the bottom rung for property tax rate, use of school trailers, commute time, teacher pay, and more.
To learn more about the costs of sprawl, and about a smarter way to grow, download this presentation (pdf).
The public is hungry to stem reckless growth. At a hearing on the Comp Plan in October of 2013, written comments opposed to sprawl-development policies outnumbered those in favor by 2000 to 30.
What you can do:
-Sign the petition at the website of the Smarter Growth Alliance for Charles County.
-Like the Smarter Growth Alliance for Charles County Facebook page for frequent updates.
-Like the Facebook for the Mattawoman Watershed Society to receive updates.
Learn more:
-Check out the presentation (pdf) explaining how present and past comp plans have put Charles County on the bottom rungs in Maryland for many issues, even as they are destroying our great outdoors. In a nutshell, the public has a right to be upset because sprawl development costs more to service than it generates in tax revenue, one reason why Charles County has the highest real-estate tax-rate of any county in the state. Sprawl development also explains the longest commute times in the state, and the constant redistricting of students who must then study in trailers--the greatest number of portable classrooms per student in the state. Curtailing sprawl would help fix these problems, and better protect our waterways. What is good for a watershed is good for everyone!
-See land-use issues under "Our Issues."
NewsClick each title for more information
|  Wednesday, January 28, 2015 6:30-8:30 PM Village Green Pavilion, Indian Head, MDMap to pavilion. "The public forum will present information on the JLUS process and give area residents an opportunity to share their thoughts on Navy operations and surrounding land use." Navy JLUS information here. Airport Land-Use Study Written Comments due Feb. 4 Important for Mattawoman Creek! Send comments to Steve Ball: BallSt@charlescountymd.gov More information on the airport here. Public notice for Airport Land-Use study here. Once There Were Billions--vanished  Through June 2015 Smithsonian Museum of Natural History & the garden at the Castle Martha,
the last passenger pigeon on the planet, succumbed on Sept. 1, 1914.
This exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of this stunning
extinction, when a part of the sky did, in fact, fall. Martha is exhibited for the 1st time in 15 years, along with displays examining the Great Auk, Carolina Parakeet, and Heath Hen. As part of the project, sculptures of Todd McGrain's Lost Bird Project are also on display through March 15, 2015. Photos and links here. |
