Under the ordinance, 372 acres of the development site would get new Critical Area designations: 293 acres would be redesignated from Resource Conservation Area (RCA) to Intensely Developed Area(IDA); 79.5 acres would be redesignated from Limited Development Area to IDA.

"This was an important day for us to receive today's vote," said Mark D. Stemen, area president for K. Hovnanian Companies. "Now we're anxious to move forward to the next step." 

Approximately four months ago the commissioners granted growth allocation for the Four Seasons project if Hovnanian revised its development plan to meet 24 conditions set by the county and 10 conditions set by the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission. One condition requires the developer to enter into a developer rights and responsibilities agreement.

Stemen said the agreement is an enforceable contract between the county and the company. He said the agreement would be a "very comprehensive document" that protects the county. It would outline Hovnanian's commitment to agree to all the environmental conditions and to provide infrastructure improvements, Stemen said. 

County Commissioner George O'Donnell called the developer's rights and responsibilities agreement "a very comprehensive undertaking."

The conditions specified by the commissioners in their April 10 resolution granting the growth allocation required Hovnanian to incorporate a cluster design for the age-restricted community of 1,350 homes; add an 80-bed assisted living facility for the project; and dedicate approximately 27.5 acres of park land for the county.

The development site consists of 562 acres in the Chester and Stevensville areas north of U.S. Route 50. The site is on both sides of Cox Creek and Castle Marina Road. The property borders the Chester River and the communities of Castle Marina, Bayside and Queens Landing. Other conditions deal with stream buffers, stormwater management, stabilizing the shoreline of the Chester River and Macum Creek, and providing wooded buffers and security barriers between Four Seasons and the existing residential communities. 

Growth allocation is a legal mechanism that allows more intense development within 1,000 feet of the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 

According to a booklet about the Critical Area program in Queen Anne's County ("Citizen's Guide to Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Law,") the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act (or Critical Area law) was approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 1984. The law required 16 counties, Baltimore City and 44 municipalities which surround the Bay to implement a land use and resource management program.

The program's goal is to reverse the Bay's decline by mitigating damaging impacts to the Bay and the loss of natural habitat, while still accommodating future growth.

©The Star Democrat 2001