March 16, 2001

Queen Anne's County Commissioners
107 N. Liberty Streets
Centreville, MD 21617

re : Critical Area Growth Allocation Hearing for Four Seasons held February 27, 2001

Dear Commissioners O'Donnell, Davis and McQueeney :

Thank you for extending the date for submitting comments and testimony. Also, thank you for taking the time on several different occasions to meet with and listen to the concerns of the Kent Island Defense League.

I would briefly like to summarize the testimony I presented at the hearing for your review.
There are 3 main reasons to deny this growth allocation petition.

1) This plan does not comply with the Chester and Stevensville Community Plans
The proposed development (even as modified) varies significantly from what was presented to the Citizen Advisory Committees, what they were led to believe would result from their efforts, and what they approved. If built, this development will contribute to the degradation of our natural environment and will substantially reduce our quality of life. The mission of these Community Plans was to chart a course for development which would "maintain and enhance the quality of life for existing and future residents". No where in the Plans does it authorize the sacrifice of Chester or Stevensville's environment or quality of life for the fiscal benefit of the County or a developer.

The Planning Commission was given great discretion regarding the implementation of the CMPD and SMPD zoning ordinances. They were also assigned a significant responsibility on Page 4-15 of the Chester Plan : "The County Planning Commission should have subjective control over the uses, density and design of projects in the Chester Master Planned Development Area. Their primary concern should be to negotiate with the developer on behalf of the community...". The Planning Commission has not fulfilled its responsibility to the community.

2) The amount of Growth Allocation requested is excessive
Because shore buffers have been reduced from 300' to 100' along the Chester River, the requested amount of Growth Allocation had to be increased by at least 40 acres. The QAC Critical Area program states on page 23 : "Growth allocation is a scarce and valuable commodity of the County. Pre-mapping does not guarantee actual award of growth allocation for any pre-mapped site. Every effort should be made to sensitively design developments in pre-mapped areas to minimize the amount of needed growth allocation. The County may not grant project approvals or award growth allocations to developments which do not limit, to the extent practical, the amount of land needed for growth allocation".

We should not use this large portion of our lifetime growth allocation for this one project.

3) We should not leave this Legacy to future generations
We should not leave a legacy of a degraded natural environment and a reduced quality of life to our children and grandchildren.

We respectfully request that you deny growth allocation for this project as proposed.

Thank you for your consideration,
 

Richard Moser, President
Kent Island Defense League