The Honorable C. Eugene Butler                                                                      The Honorable Robert C. Willey

Mayor, Town of Easton                                                                                      President, Easton Town Council

DELIVERED BY HAND                             RE: MORATORIUM                         October 29, 1999

Gentlemen:

Our organization normally limits itself to the problem of pollution in Talbot County rivers. We have already obtained evidence showing serious impairment in the Tred Avon and other waterways.

We support orderly smart growth provided it causes no further harm to the waterways. However, the effects of what we do on land returns to the rivers as stormwater runoff.  We must have growth to provide jobs. A town cannot stand still. We doubt that present road and sewage systems can softly handle a massive building boom.

The dilemma caused by the deluge of "mega box" applications has brought the planning and zoning process to a halt. It has also exposed elected officials and planning staff to a scale of problems they have not met before. For instance, it is not adequate to discuss tree planting and architectural refinement, but to ignore the larger problems of polluted waters (on which our economy depends); rapidly increasing traffic congestion; funding for sewer and highway construction; and whether the proposed location for large commercial developments will enhance, or harm, the Town and County.

We have listened to Milton Irvin, a retired developer who has also served on zoning boards. He believes the Town needs to put in place administrative techniques that are fair to landowners, developers, and residents. The key principle is that the applicant for minor projects must at his own expense submit a complete disclosure of all facts of the proposed land use at day one. Planning staff should cooperate, but not spend time on incomplete applications. By the time a zoning change or subdivision is granted, the applicant has a vested position and rights that cannot be inexpensively withdrawn or changed. Getting it right at the beginning avoids litigation.

In Montgomery County, the first submission made is a Natural Resource Inventory Map, drawn and sealed by an engineer licensed in Maryland. This includes:

9. Critical Area obligations

This Map, paid for by developers, becomes the basis for the Preliminary Subdivision Plan. The Plan must be in compliance with the map. Any deviations must be corrected before the Plan goes to the first stage of review. The burden of disclosure is on the developer, not the taxpayer. The developer pays full cost of the Map.