Town Clerk Robert F. Karge, Town Attorney C. Kehoe, Town
Engineer T. Glass, Town Planner
The Town
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF
Mr. Jensen made a motion to approve the minutes as amended by Ms. Jackson-Amis, seconded by Mr. Ford and carried unanimously.
REPORT FROM
Mr. Drew Jensen was present to report on the Fire Department’s February activities.
PRESENTATION TO MR. BILL SHARP
The President of the
RECOGNITION OF CROSSING GUARDS
Ms. Jackson-Amis presented the Town of
MEMO FROM MAYOR BUTLER REGARDING HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION AND PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS
The President of the
Historic District Commission (3 year term):
Tom Bachelor (reappointment), expires
William N. Kirby (reappointment), expires
Kenneth L. Carroll (reappointment), expires
Roger A. Bollman (reappointment),
expires
Bill Stagg (reappointment),
expires
Sandra Rosenfield
(reappointment), expires
Michael Rouse (new appointment), expires
Planning & Zoning Commission (5 year term)
John White, Esq. (reappointment), expires
Upon motion by Mr. Ford, seconded by Mr. Jensen and carried, the appointments were approved.
MS. BERTHA WILSON TO ADDRESS COUNCIL REGARDING
Ms. Wilson stated that she was present representing
the homeowners of
The Town Attorney stated that he has been in
contact with Mr. Austin Webster, the Housing Coordinator for
Mr. Ford questioned who would be applying for the Community Development Block Grant. The Town Attorney briefed on the process.
PUBLIC HEARING ON THE REQUEST OF CHERRYWOOD DEVELOPMENT LLC, CONTRACT PURCHASER OF THE PROPERTY WHICH IS OWNED BY YVONNE D. HOFFMAN ET AL FOR THE PROPOSED PROJECT WHICH IS A 143 UNIT TOWNHOUSE PUD SUBDIVISION TO BE LOCATED ON THE EAST SIDE OF ROUTE 50 (OCEAN GATEWAY), JUST SOUTH OF SOUTH BEECHWOOD SUBDIVISION. THIS REQUEST IS TO REZONE THE SITE FROM A-1 (AGRICULTURAL) TO PUD (PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT).
The Town Attorney stated that he lives immediately adjacent to this parcel and the Town has retained Christopher Drummond, Esq. from Centreville to act in this matter.
The Town Planner, Mr. Hamilton, briefed on the application. He stated that the property was annexed, effective September with A-1 zoning which allows one unit per acre. Mr. Hamilton stated that soon after the annexation, Cherrywood submitted an application for rezoning to PUD with a town home type project. He stated that the Planning Commission had reviewed the application and after the Planning and Zoning Commission’s concerns were addressed, they forwarded a positive recommendation for this 143 unit residential development.
Mr. Joseph Stevens, the applicant’s
attorney, briefed on the application. Mr. Stevens
stated that after several previous applications, Cherrywood
addressed as many concerns as this
Mr. Tim Dean discussed how the applicant chose
the site. He stated that they had hired a market consultant to discuss what
product was needed and where it could be placed in the Town of
Mr. Jensen questioned the size and the target price. Mr. Dean stated that they hoped to stay under $200,000. He stated that they tried to have affordable houses in the price range of $120,000 but the community did not accept that product and wanted something comparable to the resale value in their development. He stated that they are targeting move down buyers primarily. Mr. Dean stated that this community would not be age restricted and may attract the first-time homebuyer.
Ms. Jackson-Amis discussed affordability issues. She stated that she was concerned that the developer did not address the middle-income buyers because the community out there did not want it although the town officials were concerned with accommodating all buyers.
Mr. Dean stated that they tried to balance everyone’s
concerns and because
Ms. Jackson-Amis discussed median income in
Mr. Ford asked that the connectivity plan be
addressed. Mr. Dean displayed where
Mr. Ford asked who would construct the road. Mr. Dean stated that it would be the Town or the State as their build-out may be complete in approximately four years.
Mr. Ford stated that the way he read the spirit of the PUD regulations, one of its main purposes is to promote a mixture of uses on a given site. Mr. Ford asked Mr. Dean to comment on that purpose for this development.
Mr. Stevens stated that they are providing for a mixture of housing types. He stated that the site does not lend itself to a mixture of uses but most importantly is that most annexations have to come in as A-1 with a PUD overlay but in order to get control over the design, the development must come in as a PUD.
Mr. Ford asked how the development would be phased. Mr. Dean stated that it would be based on sewer allocation and when the timing comes in to what is available. He stated that they would want both products in the first phase. He stated that the round-a-bout would be constructed and hopefully, between 20 and 35 units and the remainder would be dictated by the sewer allocations.
Mr. Kevin Sharon, McCrone, Inc. was present to discuss the site parameters. He stated that the overall parcel is 52.3 acres; not located within the critical area or within the floodplain. He stated that access to the site will be from the east side collector which will be built by the developer. He stated that the developer will dedicate a 60’ wide right-of-way. Mr. Sharon stated that they will have town streets which will serve the villa products which will be six to a block with each having their own driveway. He discussed the required amenities. He stated that the density will be approximately 2.7 units per acre, served by Town public sewer and water. Mr. McCrone discussed the extensive landscaping along Route 50.
Mr. Jensen questioned how quickly the project would build out. Mr. Sharon stated that it is really an availability of the sewer. Mr. Stevens stated that the scenario is to have the development built in four years if the sewer is available.
Mr. Ken Schmid, Traffic
Concepts stated that they were hired to address the traffic impact issues that
arose during the subdivision review process. He stated that they had met with
Mr. Jensen stated that he has no doubt this development will have a negative impact on traffic on Route 50 and he worries about the people that will be living there. Mr. Schmid stated that there are going to be problems at certain times, certain periods of the day which is indicative of the seasonal traffic.
Mr. Tom Alspach stated that he is speaking on behalf of Talbot Preservation Alliance. He discussed the capacity of the sewer system and the concern of the reserve systems. Mr. Alspach questioned the cost of the new plant and asked who would pay for it. Mr. Alspach asked if a policy should be in place as to how much additional housing units should we be authorizing and shouldn’t we be looking at the fairness of having current rate payers subsidize this new capacity that we are eating into.
The Town Engineer, Mr. Glass clarified that the 286 equivalent dwelling units Mr. Alspach referred to are the units that have not been promised to someone else that has already recorded a plat. He said that some of the units he discussed have already been promised a piece of that plant although the flow has not materialized yet. He discussed the 20% mechanism for anyone coming in and grabbing up the remaining capacity. Mr. Glass stated that with regards to who is paying for these proposed improvements, it is a significant cost that has to be borne with some grants.
There being no further comments, the President
of the Council closed the Public Hearing at
MR. JOE ROSS, CEO AND MR. JERRY WALSH, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SHORE HEALTH SYSTEM TO ADDRESS COUNCIL REGARDING THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT/TELEMETRY UNIT/OUTPATIENT CENTER EXPANSION PLANS
Mr. Joe Ross, President, Shore Health System
was present and introduced Ms. Patti Willis, Jerry Walsh and from their architectural
firm, Lyndy Pratt and Tonya Burnett. He introduced
concept drawings related to work they would like to propose to do on the
Mr. Walsh, Chief Operating Officer for Shore Health System of Maryland stated that the major thrust of this project is the emergency room which was built to see approximately 12,000 visits per year. He stated that they are currently seeing patients in the 40,000 area with projections to increase to 46,000 to 50,000 patients. Mr. Walsh discussed outpatient services and the need to visit several areas. He stated that their plans involve housing the outpatient services in one area which would make it more user friendly for the patients and much more efficient for the staff. Mr. Walsh discussed the two new proposals which include building a new emergency room building built off the back of the existing facility and renovating the new emergency room to create an outpatient pavilion. He discussed the concept of moving the child care center. Mr. Walsh stated that they believe they have a plan for adequate parking but they intend to have a traffic study completed to look at the ambulance traffic and flow of the trucks as well as staff parking.
Mr. Walsh discussed parking off
Ms. Jackson-Amis stated that in the submission
to the
Mr. Walsh stated that they would determine the best route when the traffic study is complete.
The architect for the hospital discussed the
routes and issues involved with ambulances. She stated that all traffic would
not route on Port and
Mr. Walsh stated that they had met with the
He discussed the green space they would retain and the large trees to separate the residential area from the hospital.
Ms. Jackson Amis asked that the other neighbors
be contacted in the area of Port and
Mr. Ford stated that this is a proposed change to a CM zone and the hospital has not yet gone before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Ford commended the hospital for all their work up front.
Mr. Ross stated that they are in the distinct position of both trying to serve the neighbors as patients and be a decent neighbor in the process. He discussed the application process before them. He stated that the hospital board has not yet approved this project. Mr. Ross hoped to have everything in line in the next six to eight months.
The President of the
The Town Planner stated that he would put this matter on the next available agenda for the Planning Commission’s review and recommendation.
CHIEF’S COMMENTS
Chief Harvey stated that in regard to the hospital’s
proposal this evening, it would be counterproductive to send ambulances down
Port and West where there are so many elderly residents and students. He discussed
the congestion in this area. Chief Harvey’s concern was for the disruption of
the lives of the people that reside in that area. He strongly suggested that
the
Chief Harvey stated that he has two requests
to come before the
1)
An amendment to the St. Patrick’s
Day Festival on March 17 to request a street closure on
Upon motion by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Mr. Ford
and carried, the request to close
2) A request from Christine Henry for the Academy of the Arts Museum on 106 South Street for the Annual Children’s Art Festival to be held on Saturday, May 10 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Additional parking restrictions and the use of the Police Department’s Community Outreach team to support the endeavor.
Upon motion by Mr. Jensen, seconded by Mr. Ford and carried, the request for additional parking restrictions was unanimously approved.
Chief Harvey stated that the Police Awards ceremony
will be held on
TOWN ENGINEER’S COMMENTS
The Town Engineer Mr. Glass updated everyone on the condition of the streets in the town.
Mr. Glass stated that there has been a request
to change some of the parking spaces in the parking lot on
Upon motion made by Ms. Jackson-Amis, seconded
by Mr. Ford and carried, the request to change some of the metered spaces to
two hour spaces in the lot on
Mr. Glass followed up on the site plans for the water storage tank.
Upon motion by Ms. Jackson-Amis, seconded by Mr. Reed and carried, the position of the water storage tank was unanimously approved.
TOWN ATTORNEY’S COMMENTS
The Town Attorney Mr. Kehoe introduced for a First Reading an annexation resolution imposing a special tax district on the West Kennedy Street neighborhood as well as a resolution providing a zoning classification of medium density residential R-10A to a property. Mr. Kehoe requested that a public hearing be set for each the annexation, zoning and special tax district on a consolidated basis.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPER’S COMMENTS
Economic Developer Mr. Bond stated that on
Mr. Bond followed up on the St. Patrick’s Day
celebration to be held on
COUNCIL’S COMMENTS
Mr. Willey stated that on April 15, there would
be an MML dinner in
Mr. Jensen asked Mr. Glass about a possible
discussion with some of the
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, upon motion
by Mr. Willey, seconded by Mr. Jensen and carried unanimously, the President
of the
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Town Clerk