A group of Queen Anne's County residents is going above the heads of local leaders and asking Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to support a controversial 1,350-home project on Kent Island. 

Friends of Four Seasons sent a letter to the governor this week, pointing out that the age-restricted community creates a "tax-positive revenue source" at a time when the state is struggling with a budget crisis.

"We are writing to bring to your attention one such opportunity that could yield more than $100 million in tax and other revenues but is being thwarted by 'no growth,' 'not in my backyard' sentiments on the part of a few," said David H. Crossan, the group's president.

A spokesman for the governor on Friday said Mr. Ehrlich's office has not yet received the letter.

County Commissioner Gene Ransom, D-Grasonville, said the governor has enough to worry about in Annapolis and does not need to cross over the bridge into local government.

"Hopefully, the governor will let us make the decisions we were elected to do," he said. "He's got a huge deficit that he needs to focus on."

Since the project was proposed in 2000, hundreds of people have testified in public hearings, most of whom strongly opposed the development. They say it will negatively affect the environment and overburden the county's infrastructure.

On Sept. 17, a week after being voted out of office, the former Board of County Commissioners approved a contract with K. Hovnanian Cos. that required the developer to pay more than $20 million for improvements to county roads and water, sewer and emergency services.

In exchange, the board gave its support to K. Hovnanian's plans to
develop the community on 561 acres off Castle Marina Road.

However, on March 4, the newly elected commissioners voted to hold a public hearing on the agreement.

"Unbelievably, the new Board of County Commissioners is now challenging and delaying this project and seriously jeopardizing all the revenue it can bring, as well opening itself up to costly legal battles and liability," Mr. Crossan said in the letter signed by 32 people. "In this time of cutting budgets for critically needed services, it makes absolutely no sense for Queen Anne's County to turn its back on this potential windfall."

Mr. Ransom sees the agreement as "good old-fashioned sprawl," which is why he proposed that the commissioners review the agreement.

"There are also a lot of costs involved to the county that the Friends of Four Seasons probably didn't mention."
 

RANSOM RESOLUTION - KENT ISLAND GROWTH ISSUES 

 On a motion made by Mr. Ransom, seconded by Mr. Koval, with Mr. Niedomanski opposing, the Board adopted the following resolution: 

RESOLUTION NO. 03-14 
A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Queen Anne’s County expressing their intent to schedule and host a public hearing on pressing issues related to growth and development on Kent Island, certain public infrastructure improvements and the Four Seasons subdivision and associated Developer Rights and Responsibilities Agreement. 
WHEREAS, the citizens of Queen Anne’s County, through the primary and general elections of 2002, voiced a public mandate reflecting dissatisfaction with the direction of past County leadership with respect to growth and land use issues; and 
WHEREAS, this Board of County Commissioners is confronted with a range of decisions about the future direction of growth in Queen Anne’s County generally and, more specifically, have pressing decisions to make about the future direction of growth on Kent Island; and 
WHEREAS, the County Commissioners desire to publicly and comprehensively present the pressing issues on which they must act with respect to the communities of Chester and Stevensville, and which may have a wider impact on the residents of Kent Island and the County, and to receive public input on these issues; and 
WHEREAS, among the pressing issues facing Queen Anne’s County are: 
1. Kent Narrows/Stevensville/Grasonville Wastewater Treatment Plant (“KNSG WWTP”): 
(a) Whether or not the capacity of the plant remains at its current level of 2 million gallons per day (“mgd”) or is increased, the wastewater treatment plant is in need of maintenance that has been deferred for several years in anticipation of being replaced. 
(b) The cost of the maintenance and improvements will have a multimillion-dollar price tag. 
(c) The cost of any mandated improvements will have to be funded by some mix of rate increases to existing users and/or fees and charges paid by new users. 
2. Stevensville Water System and the water supply for Kent Island: 
(a) The Aquia aquifer is too close to the surface, has been over utilized, is contaminated with brackish water, and cannot feasibly be used as a future water supply. 
(b) The next aquifer under the Kent Island - the Magothy aquifer - contains high iron content, which is hard to treat and creates maintenance problems.  The Magothy aquifer cannot be relied on as a future water supply.  The County has no control of the recharge area of this aquifer, and thus cannot ensure the long-term quality of this aquifer. 
(c) The next aquifer, the Lower Patapsco aquifer, is 1,500+ feet deep, has water with some iron content but less iron content than the water of the Magothy aquifer, and is of unknown quality and quantity.  The County has no control of the recharge area of this aquifer, and thus cannot ensure the long-term quality of this aquifer. 
(d) The only other feasible supply of water is the Chesapeake Bay.  The Maryland Department of Environment (“MDE”) has not allowed water to be withdraw for municipal purposes in the lower part of the Bay, and the use of such water would require a completely different and more expensive treatment technology than that employed at the current treatment plant. 
(e) The available fire flows in the system are marginal. 
(f) The water treatment system needs upgrades that are estimated to cost several millions of dollars. 
(g) The cost of the necessary improvements to the water treatment system will have to be funded by existing users, new growth, or some mix of rate increases to existing users and fees and charges paid by new users. 
3. The Four Seasons Subdivision: 
(a) K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons at Kent Island (“Four Seasons”) is an age-restricted active adult development proposed to comprise up to 1,350 “dwellings”, including a mix of single-family detached and multi-family dwellings. 
(b) In connection with the Four Seasons project, the prior Board of County Commissioners executed a Developer Rights and Responsibilities Agreement (a “DRRA”) with K. Hovnanian at Kent Island, LLC on September 17, 2002. 
(c) The Critical Area Growth Allocation for the Four Seasons development has been legally challenged in court. 
(d) The legality of the DRRA. 
(e) There are some positive and negative attributes to the DRRA. 
(f) The new Board of County Commissioners must decide whether to suspend or revoke the DRRA, or to perform under or seek to renegotiate the DRRA. 
WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 66B-13.01(i)(2) of the Annotated Code of Maryland, after a public hearing, the County Commissioners may suspend or terminate the Four Seasons DRRA if the County Commissioners determine that suspension or termination of the DRRA is “essential to ensure the public health, safety or welfare”; and 
WHEREAS, the County Commissioners desire public comment and input as to whether suspension or termination of the Four Seasons DRRA is essential to ensure public health, safety or welfare.  In the interest of meaningful and productive public discourse, the County Commissioners desire testimony that addresses (i) the long term future water and sewer supply for the Chester and Stevensville communities, (ii) the long-term growth plans for the those communities, the willingness of those communities to fund, through users fees or otherwise, necessary improvements to the KNSG WWTP and the Stevensville Water System without significant new growth, (iii) the impact of the proposed Four Seasons development on the future ability to develop a collector road system for Kent Island north of Maryland Route 50, and (iv) any other aspects of the Four Seasons project, as contemplated by the DRRA and the Sketch Plans attached as Exhibit 3 to the DRRA, that impact upon public health, safety or welfare. 
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President of the Board of County Commissioners of Queen Anne’s County is hereby directed to set a public hearing within the next 120 days for purposes of receiving public input and fostering public dialogue on the issues outlined in the foregoing recitals of this Resolution. 
 ADOPTED the _____ day of _________________, 2003 
 
 

"mmohsberg@capitalgazette.com 
 

Published March 16 , 2003, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2003 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.