First public hearing on Freedom Plan Thursday at Liberty High School – Carroll County Times

The first of two public hearings on the accepted Freedom Plan will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 8, at Liberty High School. The hearing will provide people with a chance to voice concerns or comments for the record.

The second public hearing will be held the 8:30 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 20, at the Carroll County Office Building.

The Freedom Plan is a guide for potential future development of South Carroll, which is a designated growth area for the county. It was last updated in 2001, which means the update is more than half a decade late since state guidelines require the plan be updated every 10 years.

The Carroll County Planning Commission accepted the current draft of the plan, which it had worked on for a year, in April and after public comment may vote to approve it. After approval, the plan is sent to the Board of County Commissioners. The commissioners could then reject it, make changes to it or adopt it, which would begin the process of implementing the plan.

The accepted draft of the Freedom Plan and associated future land use maps can be found online at http://www.freedomareaplan.org.

The plan has had its local and vocal critics, some of whom came to an open house meeting about the plan on May 25.

Ellen Dix lives in Eldersburg and said that she is concerned about future land use designations that could lead to undeveloped land that is zoned low density residential being rezoned to medium or high density residential. It's not just the density of the developments that concern her but the effect on traffic patterns.

"Route 26 has congestion that is just bumper to bumper in the morning and afternoon," she said. "I live on a street that doesn't have a traffic light, and you almost have to make a right hand turn, go down to Walmart, and turn around and come back."

If Eldersburg were an incorporated area, Dix said, imagining what could be done if she had a magic wand to make any kind of change, she would argue for a moratorium on building.

"Because Eldersburg is not incorporated, we don't have a say," Dix said. "We never did have a say; we never will have a say."

Ross Dangel, who recently ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Sykesville Town Council, also felt that the Freedom Area did not have ample voice in the process.

"There's nobody saying, 'Stop.' There is nobody saying: 'Is this right? Is there a right away to do this that might be less harmful to the community and make more sense?'" Dangel said. "Nobody is an anti-growth person. We understand the need for growth."

John and Jean Hruch, who live within 2 miles of the South Carroll Senior and Community Center where the open house meeting was held, said they have been concerned for the past year about medium density future land use designations on the Wolf, Beatty and Gibson parcels, and that their concerns are not being listened to.

"I just want it to be what Eldersburg is, a community that kind of makes sense. Yes, develop it, but just do it right," Jean Hruch said. "We just want an open, honest discussion. We want our voices to be heard."

At the same time, John Hruch did acknowledge that changes had been made to the plan based on input from the community.

"The Beatty property was a very good compromise: They wanted that all commercial, and they have decided to go one-third commercial and two-thirds residential. They kept traffic access off of Bennett Road," he said. "Those were the two big concerns. They fixed that."

County Commissioner Doug Howard, R-District 5, who represents the Freedom Area, said that planning is hard and that criticisms are to be expected.

"The people that find the positives in it don't react to it. People who find something they don't like it in, it's pretty easy to tell; 'That's going to be congestion in my neighborhood,'" he said. "I am not criticizing that. That is what the discussion should be."

Moreover, Howard said, he is not weighing in to say, "Stop," on any point in the plan because it hasn't yet come before the Board of Commissioners, which is when he believes it will be appropriate to make comments, voicing his opinion, during what he anticipates will be a series of meetings over the summer.

"There will probably be a meeting where we sit down with the planning commission to ask about how things were done. We will probably have a public meeting, I don't know if we are required to, but a public meeting to get more feedback from people," he said. "There does come a finite point where a decision has to be made."

Commissioner Richard Weaver, R-District 2, said he felt the plan as accepted by the planning commission, and put out to public comment, was just the beginning of a process during which people can voice opinions that will further shape the contours of the Freedom Plan prior to its eventual adoption by the board.

"You have to have a starting point to do anything, and that's what this is," Weaver said. "That's why we put it out there, to get public comments and to see what the average person says."

jon.kelvey@carrollcountytimes.com

410-857-3317

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6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 8: Public hearing at the Liberty High School auditorium, 5855 Bartholow Road, Eldersburg.

8:30 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 20: Oral comments in last public hearing in the Reagan Room of the Carroll County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster. Last call for written comment is 9 a.m.

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First public hearing on Freedom Plan Thursday at Liberty High School - Carroll County Times