Madeja: Keep working on Freedom Plan to get it right – Carroll County Times

By now all Freedom residents should know public comment for the 2017 Freedom Community Comprehensive Plan ends on June 20, at which point the Planning and Zoning Commission could approve the plan and send it to the Board of County Commissioners for a 60-day review.

Now is the time for all of us to demand better. Freedom Area roads are overcrowded, our schools are the only ones at or near capacity. We ask for better restaurants, better retail choices and more places for family recreation. We get another grocery store. If you are tired of being ignored, read on.

Here are some of the summary of recommendations that county planning department wrote as part of the rationale for updating the comprehensive plan.

Here's what they say: Facilitate residential infill development in character with the existing housing in Freedom's established neighborhoods.

Here's the reality: The planning department proposes to increase the densities on three large parcels Gibson, Beatty and Wolf without justification from the property owners to show how the change benefits the community. None of the increased densities will match the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. The development of these parcels could mean an increase of over 600 homes in an area where schools are at or near capacity and roads are already clogged with congestion. No one property owner's rights are more important than any others.

Here's what they say: Increase the amount of land designated for commercial and light industrial uses in the areas targeted for economic development.

Here's the reality: The intersection of Md. 32 and Md. 26 remains the center of commerce. From the inception of the Comprehensive Mini Plan for the Freedom Area and Environs, the stated and expected areas of development have always been the Md. 26 and Md. 32 corridors, not our quiet residential neighborhoods. We have many vacant storefronts and land in that corridor yet the county planning department wants to put commercial and light industrial uses in the same neighborhoods they promised to protect in item one.

Here's what they say: Ensure that the development review process is predictable, consistent and evenly applied.

Here's the reality: If the county planning department refuses to update our 15-year-old zoning codes before moving forward with this plan we will be open to other costly and time consuming lawsuits that pit the county against itself. The perfect example is the assisted living facility on Oklahoma Road. A similar facility can be built anywhere in the county because the zoning that allows it is still in place. As long as the county continues to change zoning amendments, like Amendment 156, to favor developers we will not have an evenly applied process. Predictability? Well just go back to items one and two.

The State of Maryland has set forth "The 12 State Planning Visions" which the county is required to address when revising our plan. Vision No. 2 is public participation: "citizens are active partners in the planning and implementation of community initiatives and are sensitive to their responsibilities in achieving community goals."

Unfortunately, citizens have only been allowed to react to the plan put forth by the county not be active participants. For over four months, the county planning department met without actively seeking public participation. How long would have this continued if a group of advocates not heard the plan was under revision and contacted the county planning department?

All but one member of the Planning and Zoning Commission lives outside the Freedom area. That so many citizens who live in the northern part of the county are making decisions for us is illogical and disingenuous.

The large parcels being considered for development in this plan are within 5 miles of Bennett Road, so logically the majority of concerned citizens come from this area. Throughout this process, falsehoods have been perpetuated that our resistance to this plan is because "we don't want that in our backyard." I think a more accurate and realistic assessment is that the rest of the county doesn't want it in theirs. We certainly don't expect the county not to grow, we are simply demanding accountability and the predictability and consistency the county is required to give.

It is not only our right but our duty to be informed and involved in our community. Openness, accountability and honesty are the traits of government transparency. Transparency is a government's obligation to share information with citizens. It is the heart of how citizens hold our elected officials, and government employees, accountable.

I am respectfully requesting that the Freedom Plan continue to be reworked until the county can meet the goals that they, the State of Maryland and we the citizens have set for them. If you agree write to the county commissioners at commissioners@cccg.carr.org and the planning and zoning commission at ccplanning@ccg.carr.org and tell them so.

Kimberly Madeja writes from Eldersburg.

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Madeja: Keep working on Freedom Plan to get it right - Carroll County Times