Kent Island Defense League

News

No access to utilities for new developments

By MARGOT MOHSBERG, Kent Island Staff Writer

The Queen Anne's County commissioners yesterday slammed the door on all proposed development in areas not slated for sewer expansion.

But the announcement by the Board of County Commissioners that it won't give utility access to any new housing or commercial projects for up to nine months trips up only one project -- the 171-home Ellendale community off Route 50 in Stevensville.

The commissioners said they are awaiting the outcome of their appeal over the planned Kent Island Wal-Mart. Circuit Court Judge John W. Sause Jr. on April 30 ruled the commissioners had unfairly denied utility access to the developers.

The commissioners said they need the state Court of Special Appeals to decide the issue -- which could take six to nine months -- because it will have wide-ranging implications.

"It affects so many things -- mapping, sewer and water allocation and even growth allocation," said commissioners President George O'Donnell, D-Queenstown.

A request by Ellendale Farm LLC for sewer service prompted the commissioners' announcement yesterday.

The project, as well as a nearby project planned on the Kent Manor Inn property that could bring as many as 750 homes, are not on the list for sewer expansion in the county Master Water and Sewer Plan.

Ellendale attorney Michael R. Foster of Stevensville, could not be reached for comment.

The decision won't affect many of the larger developments planned for Kent Island because they are already in areas planned for sewer expansion.

These projects include the 1,350-home Four Seasons off Castle Marina Road and the 750-home Gibson's Grant off Route 8.

Judge Sause's April 30 decision forced the commissioners on May 15 to include the Wal-Mart property in their plans for sewer expansion.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has invested more than $1 million toward building the 285,000-square-foot Kent Commons shopping center at the foot of the Bay Bridge on the southern side of Route 50.

The project would include the 154,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store, a 123-room hotel, a conference center and a sports bar.

The commissioners, acting as the county Sanitary Commission, in November 1999 gave preliminary approval to sewer and water service for the project.

But residents campaigned against the big-box discounter, and the commissioners switched their position in May, stating that the store would use too much of Kent Island's dwindling sewer capacity.

The Kent Narrows-Stevensville-Grasonville-Wastewater Treatment Plant on New Love Point Road can handle only 230,000 gallons per day. The Kent Commons project would consume 25 percent of the available capacity.

Judge Sause ruled in May 2000 that the commissioners had no legal authority to "pick and choose" when it rejected the developers' application.

A landowner has a right to service when existing water and sewer lines are in place, unless there is a countywide moratorium on new projects, the judge said.

Judge Sause's opinion contradicts the ruling he made Sept. 18, when he sided with the commissioners.

Rick Moser, president of the Kent Island Defense League, said he the commissioners might have dug their own grave when they abolished a county policy restricting the amount of sewer allocation given out. "The commissioners ... may have aggravated this problem by removing the policy that limited that annual amount of total allocation to given to all projects to 50,000 gallons per day of sewer flow," he said. "They did this seven days before they approved the Wal-mart at 45,000 gallons-per-day."

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