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A Strip Mall Could Be Coming To Our Area!
Owners of the 3.5+ acre cornfield at the corner of Little Egypt Road and Route 896 have applied to the county to rezone their property from Suburban Residential (SR) to Business General (BG), a zoning which could support a strip mall, a gas station, or any of a number of other undesirable businesses in the heart of our semi-rural residential area. Commercialization there would create hazardous road conditions, more traffic, line-of-sight and ingress and egress problems, and real potential for contamination of ground water and neighboring wells. Worst yet, a successful rezoning here would create a precedent that could open the door to a cascade of similar rezoning rulings.
We don’t want it and are urging you to voice your opposition when the application comes before the County Planning Commission at their Tuesday, February 16th meeting at 7 pm at the County Administration Bldg, 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Elkton.
Spot rezonings like this are allowed legally only if (1) there has been a substantial change in the neighborhood, particularly as defined in terms of a zoning change, or (2) a mistake was made in the original zoning, which in this case dates to the last comprehensive rezoning of Cecil County, way back in 1993. Neither appears viable in the present case. The neighborhood has been residential or agricultural for many years, including the near contiguous lands in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and the nearest commercial development in Maryland is High’s Convenience Store, several miles away at Appleton Road and Route 273. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the property is co-owned by Eric Sennstrom, who is director of the Office of Planning and Zoning, and his wife Cynthia Monger, and whose case is supposedly shepherded by one of his associates, Cliff Houston, County Zoning Administrator, a job Mr. Sennstrom would normally carry out himself. Conflict of interest here ???
What 3 Things Can You Do To Help?
1) WRITE, PHONE, OR E-MAIL AND LET THE PLANNING COMMISSION KNOW YOUR FEELINGS.
Contact: Clifford I. Houston, Zoning Administrator (chouston@ccgov.org, Phone 410-996-5220), or write him at Office of Planning and Zoning, 200 Chesapeake Blvd., Suite 2300, Elkton, MD 21921
2) OR BETTER YET, COME TO VOICE YOUR OPINION AT THE FEBRUARY 16TH MEETING.
3) THE PLANNING COMMISION’S RECOMMENDATION (Whether to Approve or Disapprove) WILL BE HEARD BY THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DURING THEIR MARCH 2, 2010 MEETING AT 7 PM, SAME LOCATION AS FEBRUARY 16TH MEETING. WE THEN CAN INTRODUCE ADDITIONAL TESTIMONY. MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
GLen Farms and Tara Civic Association www.glenfarms.org