They were concerned about proposed downzoning several properties.
Frederick, Md. (KM) – There was some opposition expressed Tuesday night to the proposed Sugarloaf Treasured Landscape Management Plan during a Frederick County Council meeting. Jim McIntosh lives on Park Mills Road in Adamstown, and he said there’s no danger of any mass development in the Sugarloaf area. “Developments haven’t happened in this area since 1977,” he said. “And that’s another thing that Tim Goodfellow said in the process to scare a number of residents in this area saying that ‘oh, mass development could happen.’ It can’t happen in this area. It hasn’t happened since ’77,” McIntosh said.
Tim Goodfellow is a planner for Frederick County who briefed the Council on the Sugarloaf Treasured Landscape Management Plan on Tuesday. He noted that the plan downzones some properties from agriculture to resource conservation. But in a majority of cases, it only part of individuals properties which has been downzoned, not the entire tract.
Danielle Adams, the Executive Officer of the Frederick County Building Industry Association, spoke about the proposed downzonings of some properties. “It did not include expert legal opinions on the unattended the consequences of downzoning from agricultural to resource conservation or residential, that will create restrictions to what a farmer, home owner or property owner will be allowed to do with their property, ” she said.
Buzz McIntosh urged the Council to scrap the document. “There are absolutely serious flaws with this plan, and one of you should recommend this plan be remanded back to the Planning Commission to fix all these flaws,” he said.
Other citizens had similar opinions, including Mary Ellen Taggert who has a farm in Adamstown. “Remand the plan back to the Planning Commission. This is going to hurt our farm, and it’s going to hurt the the value of it and how we run it,” she said.
The Council will hold another meeting on the plan this coming Thursday starting at 5:30 PM. A community meeting is planned for next Thursday, August 18th, at Urbana High School from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM.
By Kevin McManus
