Wisdom from The Action Wisdom In Action

courtesy Republican News

Oct. 9, 2008

After more than two years of preparation, numerous meetings and public hearings, and hundreds of volunteer hours, Garrett County has a new comprehensive plan. The county commissioners unanimously approved and adopted the 216-page document on Tuesday.
"This has been a long time coming," said Commissioner Denny Glotfelty.

The new document however, differs somewhat from the one adopted unanimously last week by the Planning Commission, the local organization that has overseen the plan's drafting process since June 2006.

Director John Nelson, Garrett County Department of Planning and Zoning, said two paragraphs in the "Ridgelines" section of the Sensitive Areas chapter were eliminated from the Planning Commission's version.

One paragraph recognized ridgelines as "sensitive areas in need of protection." It also noted that ridges contribute to the "aesthetics, scenic quality, and overall character of the county" and help attract visitors, who are "vital to the health of the tourism sector of the local economy."

The second deleted paragraph noted that large scale use of ridgelines for wind power development "could be incompatible with the aesthetics, scenic quality, and rural character of the county."

Nelson said the commissioners also added two lines to page 15 in the Sensitive Areas chapter. The first states that "the county further acknowledges property rights of owners of land that is suitable for wind power facilities to use that property for that purpose."

The second added line notes that the commissioners "intend to seek legislation to establish setback requirements from property lines and from existing residences to wind turbines." This line was also added to the policy and implementation sections of the plan.

The commissioners formerly rejected the Planning Commission's document and adopted their revised version.

"No offense, Troy," Commissioner Ernie Gregg told Planning Commission chair Troy Ellington.

Ellington did not appear to be offended. "We can agree to disagree," he said.

The commissioners commended Nelson, Ellington, the Planning Commission, and local residents and property owners for their contributions. Glotfelty noted that the Planning Commission is a group of volunteers who spent much time on the Comprehensive Plan.

Nelson also commended local residents and property owners for their help and comments during the drafting process.

"At virtually every public meeting that we had, we tried to utilize those comments that were submitted," Nelson said. "And the document that you see before you is the result of a lot of public input and changes to policies that are in our existing plan."

"I agree, John," Gregg said. "The process truly did work in this case. The public had the opportunity to participate, and they did."

"I don't think there is going to be any comprehensive plan in the state that has had any more public input than the one you all have done," Commissioner Fred Holliday told Ellington. "It's great. That's the way government's supposed to be. There was just that one thing (the ridgeline issue) there that we just didn't totally agree with."

Holliday indicated that a another plan would not have to drafted for quite a while, as the newly adopted one would be good for about six to 10 years.

The county's former comprehensive plan was more than 10 years old. The new document proposes goals, objectives, principles, and standards, and establishes county policy with respect to land use, transportation, community facilities, water resources, housing, mineral resources, sensitive areas, and economic development, and includes recommendations for implementing the plan. It also includes a component for the Deep Creek Lake influence area.

Glotfelty noted that now that a new plan has been adopted, it was time to move forward to the next phase of the process.

Nelson said the Planning Commission's next work assignment will be to adjust local ordinances that will implement this new plan.

Copies of the document will be available at all branches of the Ruth Enlow Library, the Garrett College library, and on the county's web site. Nelson said some copies will also be available for purchase.


If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

courtesy Republican News


Aug. 28, 2008

The Garrett County commissioners and Planning Commission members held a public hearing last Thursday evening at Garrett College on the county's Comprehensive Plan draft. About 100 people attended the event, with 13 voicing their concerns about the document.
The county's current comprehensive plan is more than 10 years old. In June 2006, Planning Commission members, county staff, and a contracted consulting firm, ERM, started working on a new plan that would reflect new societal trends and government policies. Local residents and organizations have also provided input over the years.

"It's looking pretty good," Planning Commission chair Troy Ellington said Tuesday night about the latest draft. "Can it be improved? Yes, it can. But most of us are very happy with it, so far."

This text proposes goals, objectives, principles, and standards, and establishes county policy with respect to land use, transportation, community facilities, water resources, housing, mineral resources, sensitive areas, and economic development, and includes recommendations for implementing the plan.

Director John Nelson, Garrett County Department of Planning and Land Development, said state agencies reviewed the latest draft in April and returned their comments about it in June. Local residents and town officials in Garrett and other Maryland counties have also submitted opinions.

So far, ERM's Clive Graham has compiled 14 pages of comments about the proposed document.

"Most of the comments, I would say, were relatively minor," he said. "In many cases, the state agencies are asking for additional information, clarification, things like that."

Graham said "signifi-cant" comments, however, were made about some issues that will require more careful review by the commissioners and Planning Commission.

The Maryland Department of Planning recommended that the county lower its density requirement in rural areas to one unit per 20 acres.

"We were not surprised to see that comment," Graham said, adding that the department frequently makes that recommendation.

Numerous comments were also received about the water resources chapter, which is a new state requirement for comprehensive plans. Graham noted that Garrett County is the first to submit a water resources chapter, and, despite the many comments, the state is very pleased with that section of the plan.

Graham said several comments were also made about environmental issues, in particular the need for the county to include wetlands in its Sensitive Areas Ordinance, which was adopted in 1997. The edict does address steep slopes, stream buffers, rare and threatened species, and flood-prone areas, and development/permitting issues concerning those areas. Wetlands are not mentioned.

Most of the public comments at Thursday's hearing were about a proposed workforce housing project mentioned in Chapter 9 of the draft plan. It notes that "the White Face Farm property northeast of McHenry was acquired by the county and is intended as a joint economic development and housing site."

Although the housing component is in the very early planning stage, Community Action intends to construct several hundred homes for low- to middle-income workers on 50 acres of the White Face property near the Garrett County Airport. The housing development has been dubbed Lake Hill.

The proposed McHenry Business and Technology Park will also be built on the White Face land near the proposed community.

Del. Wendell Beitzel of Accident was one of six local residents who voiced their opposition to Lake Hill.

"I urge the Planning Commission and commissioners not to change the classification of all of the White Face Farm to permit high-density housing projects near the airport," Beitzel said.

The delegate noted that he and his 10 siblings grew up near the airport in the Bear Creek drainage basin, a rural community which consisted of 16 or 17 family farms at that time. Today, he said, there are still only about 50 or 60 homes in the entire basin.

Beitzel indicated that reclassifying that area to enable high-density housing to be constructed would change the character of the rural community, which is not the purpose of a comprehensive plan.

"What we're looking at is a change in this plan that would allow a project that is proposing to put in excess of 200 homes on the White Face Farm, which is county property, which is a buffer to the airport," Beitzel said. "And these 200 homes would be five times the number of families who live in that entire area, and if this doesn't change the character of a neighborhood, I don't know what does."

Chairperson Criss Kepple, Oakland, voiced the Garrett County Development Corporation's support for the reclassification. Her group is a nonprofit organization formed in the 1960s to further economic development.

One of the corporation's main goals is workforce housing and workforce development, Kepple noted.

"There is no question that in order to have a strong and viable workforce in the county, those folks have to have affordable places to live," she said.

Kepple said the proposed changes to the current comprehensive plan that expand the priority funding areas would allow the county to create affordable workforce housing for workforce ownership throughout the county, including Mc-Henry.

"With the costs of commuting and transportation, having affordable housing near where people actually work is going to be very important for the affordability of that workforce housing," Kepple said.

She added that the Lake Hill project is still in its infancy and details about it will emerge. Kepple also noted that there are misconceptions about the project and the type of housing that is planned.

"The goal of that project is to create housing that the workforce can, in fact, afford to own, not low-income housing," she said.

Some residents voiced their concerns about environmental issues in the comprehensive plan draft. Scott Johnson, Deep Creek Lake, said he hopes that Chapter 7: Sensitive Areas stays intact so that its integrity remains.

"It will take a lot of courage, but I hope that the commissioners will support that completely and not tear it apart," Johnson said.

The chapter discusses future growth/development and policies/actions for protecting sensitive areas, including establishing a "framework for regulatory control of ridgetop development through subdivision, sensitive area, and, possibly, zoning controls."

Long-time Deep Creek Lake property owner Barbara Beelar said she supported the proposed plan's section about the lake. But she said she was concerned about Section 12, "the action plan," in which the section about Deep Creek Lake disappears from the document.

"Given the role that the lake plays in Garrett County – economically, in recreation, tourism, environmental issues – I'm concerned that the "golden egg" is not well tended in this process," Beelar said.

She added that she understood that lack of attention, given the confusion as to who is responsible for the watershed. The Department of Natural Resources and state own the lake and buffer zones, but they do not own the watershed or own/control many of the streams that run into the lake, she said.

Beelar encouraged the Planning Commission to include these privately owned wetlands and other sensitive areas into the plan to help protect the lake from runoff and harmful excess plant growth.

She noted that she was in the process of forming a nonprofit protection group call the Friends of Deep Creek Lake and was developing a web site.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Nelson said the commissioners and Planning Commission would hold a work session on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 1:30 p.m. at the courthouse. The officials will review the public's and state's comments and make a decision as to which of those suggestions will be included in the final draft plan.

"Our consultant will adjust the plan according to the outcome of that Sept. 10 meeting," Nelson said.

The Planning Commission will then "take action" on the final draft at its October meeting, he said.

The draft plan is available for review in the county's Planning and Land Development office at the courthouse and online at garrettcounty.org by clicking on "Comprehensive Plan" under "News." Copies are also at the Accident, Grantsville, and Oakland libraries.


If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

courtesy Republican News


Jul. 31, 2008

The Garrett County Planning Commission and the county commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed Garrett County Comprehensive Plan on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Garrett College Auditorium. All interested citizens are invited.
"The current county comprehensive plan is over 10 years old, and this new plan has been completely revised to reflect the changing trends in our society, as well as to incorporate the required elements of recent state and federal legislation into county policy," said Planning Commission spokesperson. "The plan is both an end and a beginning."

He noted that the plan is the end product of two years of intensive work by commission members and their consultant in studying the county, listening to ideas, and thinking about the future of Garrett County.

"It attempts to make use of the thoughts expressed by citizens throughout the county for improving Garrett and making it an even more desirable place in which to live and work," said the spokesperson.

The results of the commission's efforts are contained in a set of maps of the county and a draft of the complete plan text. This text proposes goals, objectives, principles, and standards, and establishes county policy with respect to land use, transportation, community facilities, water resources, housing, mineral resources, sensitive areas, and economic development, and includes recommendations for implementing the plan. The document also includes a component for the Deep Creek Lake influence area.

The draft plan is available for review in the county's Planning and Land Development office at the courthouse and online at garrettcounty.org by clicking on "Comprehensive Plan" under "News."

"With the increasing state and federal involvement in land-use planning, it is especially important to have a new county plan prepared, adopted, and supported by Garrett Countians, rather than wait to have a plan imposed on the county by other agencies," said the commission spokesperson.

He urged citizens to read the draft plan and provide comment.


If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Long & Foster Real Estate for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Comprehensive Plan Meeting Set At Garrett College

Feb. 21, 2008
The Garrett County Planning Commission will hold an informational meeting on Monday, March 3, in the Garrett College auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m. to enable the public to review and comment on Chapters 5-11 of the new Comprehensive Development Plan draft.

These seven chapters are Chapter 5, "Water Resources Element"; Chapter 6, "Transportation Element"; Chapter 7, "Sensitive Areas Element"; Chapter 8, "Community Facilities Element"; Chapter 9, "Housing Element"; Chapter 10, "Mineral Resources Element"; and Chapter 11, "Economic Development Element."

The Planning Commission consultant, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), will provide a presentation on these chapters, and a question-and-comment period will be provided immediately following the presentation.

The Comprehensive Plan is the primary policy document used by the county to ensure healthy future growth and development. The plan is widely used and referred to by multiple state and county agencies, economic development offices, bond rating firms, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Appeals.

"Garrett County has experienced many changes since its last Comprehensive Plan was prepared in 1995, especially the rapid residential and commercial growth in and around Deep Creek Lake," said a Planning Commission spokesperson. "These changes have brought the county many opportunities but also many challenges. The new plan will look forward and establish new policies to guide the county through the year 2030 in areas including growth, development, rural preservation, transportation, and protection of environmentally sensitive areas."

A master plan for the Deep Creek Watershed Area is to be a major component of the new Comprehensive Plan, he added.

Chapter 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 of the draft plan are currently available on the county's web site. Chapters 5 and 9 will be available beginning tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 22, and paper copies will be available in the Garrett County Department of Planning and Land Development office at the courthouse.

Interested parties may go to the county web site at garrettcounty.org and click on Chapters 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 of the proposed Comprehensive Plan under "Events" on the county's homepage. Chapters 5 and 9 will be added to the same link by Feb. 22.

Further information may be obtained from the planning office at 301-334-1920.