ANSWER: We have requested the assistance of an outside consultant for the above questions. We have not received a response yet, but will provide it as soon as it is received.

ANSWER OF EASTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: The Easton Police Department is responsible and accountable to all those who live, work, visit and pass through the Easton town limits. Increased growth, whether residential or commercial, within the geographical areas of the Town of Easton is cause for discussion as to how this growth will affect public safety, as well as already developed areas.

Discussion can be centered around and narrowed to specific areas as relates to police services:

When one attempts to address growth issues of any significance, one must look to the current infrastructure to ensure that growth within the region (to include surrounding towns and geographical regions) will not adversely impact the existing infrastructure and will support the proposed growth.

There is a cause and effect to be considered, even as it pertains to police and related public safety concerns. The manpower assigned to the Easton Police Department Patrol Division is currently working 12-hour shifts. This schedule maximizes the number of officers available for each shift. Even with this deployment, if a personal injury accident occurs at Rt. 50 and Dover Road and a priority criminal complaint occurs simultaneously on Elliott Road, our entire shift resources would be depleted. Under current dispatch protocol, a minimum of three officers would be required at the Rt. 50/Dover Road accident, two officers for the priority criminal complaint and a supervisor to direct resources at both sites. This would not leave an officer available to respond to additional calls.

The towns of Oxford and Saint Michaels are major tourist attractions within the region and both currently have large-scale housing projects and developments in the planning stages. Tilghman Island posses the same potential, as can be seen from the recent growth spurts on Kent Island. All three regions directly affect the infrastructure in and around the Town of Easton, as the area is on a peninsula that requires all vehicular traffic to pass through Easton for any purpose.

There are two major main roads within the jurisdiction that allow for north and south traffic flow through the Town of Easton, Rt. 50 and the Bypass.

Setting aside the total growth concept and narrowing the scope of discussion to "Super Stores" or "Big Box" issues, the following issues involve police services:

ANSWER: The Town Staff consulted Frank S. Dudley, Jr., MAI for assistance in answering this question. Mr. Dudley is a licensed and very well respected appraiser. A copy of his response letter is attached hereto. Mr. Dudley’s letter indicates that his response is based upon his professional experience, discussions with other appraisers, and literature from the Appraisal Institute Library in Chicago. Mr. Dudley’s conclusions are: "with adequate protective measures I believe that well planned shopping areas, with buffers that might even include office type development, do not promote any appreciable negative effect on the values in residential neighborhoods on the commercial perimeter, and may even have a positive effect on values depending on the buffers that may be designed. Negative effect on values, if any, might be limited to those few dwellings directly adjoining or across from the shopping area." Mr. Dudley’s report and supporting documentation is attached hereto.

We have requested the assistance of an outside consultant for the above question. We have not received a response yet, but will provide it as soon as it is received.

ANSWER: The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation statistics indicate that, in August 1999, the civilian labor force in Talbot County was 19,808. There were 464 unemployed persons in Talbot County in that month, equating to an unemployment rate in the County of 2.3 percent. These statistics do not indicate that job creation is an immediate urgent need for the Town or the County. Unemployment rates in surrounding counties are also rather low: Caroline (3.1%, 521 total unemployed); Queen Anne’s (3.1%, 665 total unemployed); Dorchester (5.6%, 889 total unemployed). Supporting documentation is attached hereto. The determination of whether retail jobs are the kinds of jobs Easton wants to encourage is for the Council to decide.

ANSWER: The typical ancillary development associated with big box retail is restaurants, smaller retail stores, branch banks, and gas stations. (Source: Planning Staff.)

ANSWER FROM TOWN ENGINEER: Development of a parcel of land has the potential to adversely impact the Bay and the land whether that development consists of big box retailing, ¼ acre residential lots, or even farming. To evaluate whether big box retailing, or any development, is consistent with stewardship of our environment, one must look at the effectiveness of practices used to reduce or eliminate adverse impacts. Provided adequate regulations are in place and properly enforced, and provided the development is designed and constructed with management practices that protect our environment, according to the laws set forth by the State, big box retailing can be consistent with stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay and the land, as defined by the State, through Stormwater Management Regulations.

The Town Engineer’s office conducts reviews of all development within the Town of Easton to include stormwater management applicability. The Town of Easton has adopted stormwater management regulations as set forth by the Maryland Department of the Environment. All plans are reviewed for compliance with the Town of Easton Stormwater Management Ordinance dated October, 1984. The primary management of stormwater consists of both quality management and quantity management, and apply not only to big box development, but all commercial development.

The Town Engineer’s office is currently evaluating potential modifications to the existing Stormwater Management Ordinance to include greater controls for stormwater management quality and quantity. Any enhancements recommended and approved would apply to all development within the Town. (Source: Town Engineer.)

ANSWER: Surface water runoff can act as a means for transportation of pollutants, sediment, and other solids to the receiving water bodies. Generally, this is considered to impact the receiving water, and its inhabitants, in a negative manner. The effect that a development has upon a water body depends on the steps taken to implement and maintain stormwater management practices.

Based on the current Stormwater Management Ordinance, the impact of a big box development, depending on site design, has the potential to be more harmful than other types of development. Big boxes in general, are associated with larger numbers of vehicles and large areas of continuous impervious cover.

Surface water runoff can collect trash and pollutants deposited onto impervious areas by vehicles. If not properly managed in accordance with State and local regulations, the potential exists for greater amounts of pollutants to be discharged into the environment. If properly managed, the negative impacts can be greatly reduced for big box development or any other development.

Similarly, the large increase in volume of surface water runoff results in a greater potential for localized flooding, higher flow velocities, and increased erosion. Stormwater management engineering calculations accommodate varying types of land cover. This effectively accounts for site variability from all pervious cover to all impervious cover, which leads to stormwater quantity controls for all types of development. Again, if properly managed in accordance with State and local regulations, the negative impacts can be reduced for certain storm events. The Town of Easton Stormwater Management Ordinance requires that a development maintain the post-development peak discharge for a 2-year storm event at a level that is equal to or less than the 2-year pre-development peak discharge rate. This requirement is specific to the 2-year storm event only, as mandated by the State for Talbot County. In general, larger storm events are managed for safe passage through the stormwater management facility only and not for quantity management. This would result in increased site discharge quantities and velocities, thereby increasing the likelihood of channel erosion and transportation of sediment into receiving water courses.

Due to the increased volume of water generated by larger storm events, as related to big box development, enhanced site design should include at a minimum, quantity management for both the 2-year and 10-year storm events.

Additionally, closed storm drain systems (inlets, pipes, culverts and ditches) are typically designed to accommodate a 10-year storm event. Therefore, assuming it was already at capacity, any existing closed systems or ditches downstream of a big box development would be overloaded, possibly resulting in localized flooding of streets and property.

ANSWER: It is anticipated that adherence to the new stormwater standards will improve the quality of runoff. The implementation date of these standards is uncertain. The latest indication is that the regulations would become effective during the first part of 2001. Prior to adopting these standards, the Town Engineer’s office will conduct a careful review to assess their overall effectiveness as we have the option of implementing more stringent standards.

In the meantime, our existing Ordinance could be updated to address concerns (e.g. requiring maintenance of 10-year pre-development peak discharge rate; further defining quality management requirements).

ANSWER: Big box retailing will generate additional passenger and delivery vehicle traffic, thereby increasing noise levels. If the big box is located adjacent to busy highways and existing retail/industrial, the impacts would be less objectionable. Conversely, close proximity of a big box to residential areas could be viewed as detrimental due to possible early morning deliveries and evening business hours. The same conclusions can be made relative to illumination and air quality.

The effect of big box on visual characteristics of the Town is highly subjective and usually dependent upon architecture, landscaping, signage and maintenance of the development.

* based on information from SHA

The capacities of most roadways are controlled by signalized intersections, therefore, the amount of mainline and cross traffic determines how well a roadway will function. It is difficult to determine a "general capacity" for any roadway and the determination as to how well a roadway functions should be based on intersection levels of service. Roadways and intersections are generally analyzed utilizing the Transportation Research Board’s Highway Capacity Manual.

ANSWER: Generally, the State Highway Administration follows the same guidelines as the Town of Easton and Talbot County in that any direct impacts to a State highway caused by adjacent development requires improvements to be made by that developer. The State Highway Administration typically makes specific modifications to traffic flow on these roadways on an as- needed basis. Examples would include the addition of travel lanes, striping modifications or signal phasing changes. In most instances these changes are made as a result of normal traffic growth impacts on existing State highways.

The Maryland State Highway Administration Traffic Forecasting Section is responsible for long range planning on State highways. The general objective of this group is to plan for regional growth and future traffic needs in an area and reduce additional traffic impact to existing roadways. In general, the State Highway Administration’s philosophy for the U.S. Route 50 corridor consists of the construction of local access roads that will relocate local business traffic currently traveling on U.S. Route 50 to the local access roads. This design philosophy is a general guideline for more specific roadway improvements to be made by the State Highway Administration or by developers once the development concept is adopted. There are no plans that are currently underway to specifically improve conditions on MD Route 322, Route 50 or Route 33 on a large scale basis in the near future.

ANSWER: The question of whether or not the County Roads would be capable of handling larger volumes of traffic, whether generated by additional big box retailing or otherwise, is one that involves consideration of a number of factors. These factors include the existing condition of the roadways, the existing traffic volume on that roadway and the traffic volume generated by any big box retailing facility which would directly impact that roadway. There is no simple answer of whether the existing roads are capable of handling larger volumes of traffic without the benefit of a traffic evaluation for a specific road relative to any specific big box use. Each road would need to be looked at after a traffic study and evaluation is performed. Most or all of these roads could be modified to handle additional traffic by realignment, resurfacing, subgrade repairs and the additional of travel lanes. Decisions on these points are for the County and obviously involved quality of life issues extending beyond engineering considerations.

In speaking with the Talbot County Engineer’s office, it is their overall intent to turn over County roadways that exist within the Town of Easton limits, to Easton. As development occurs along county roadways, this turnover would be made in conjunction with the development of adjacent properties. The County would perform a general review of specific projects and their impacts on traffic issues. They would then offer comments, however, the intent is that the Town of Easton would focus on the design and controls of a County roadway system with the intention of accepting it into the Town of Easton. The Town Engineer’s office would require improvements as necessary to accommodate the proposed usage. It would also be up to the Town Engineer’s office to ensure that any roadway improvements were constructed in accordance with the Town of Easton Standard Details for Construction and that the final construction is acceptable before transfer from the County. In a general sense, the County’s only permitting requirement for roadway construction at this time deals with access to the County roadway from an adjacent site. The County does not have a capital improvement budget or program to specifically improve County roads in advance of, or during, the construction of adjacent big box development. Similarly, to the Town of Easton, the County causes the developer to make any required improvements to on-site or off-site roadway systems to accommodate the specific development.

ANSWER: Regarding the secondary roads in Town, the Town Engineer’s office does not have plans to improve the roadways as a direct result of big box development within the Town of Easton. These roads serve as collector roadways within the urban areas of Town and are generally limited in their ability to be expanded due to adjacent developed properties. The roads currently serve their intended purpose well and with the current cross section of the roads, the desired speed limit is more easily encouraged and controlled. Some collector roadways within the Town of Easton, for instance Chapel Road, require improvement to bring the roadway up to Town of Easton standards. This process will occur when necessary and as funds become available. It is anticipated that any specific improvement similar to this would be made regardless of any big box development activity in the area. The Town Engineer’s office would require a developer to adequately improve any roadway system affected by their development activity as needed to maintain or enhance existing roadway levels of service or structural integrity.

ANSWER: Perhaps the most important part of traffic planning is accurately determining the ultimate proposed volume of traffic to utilize a roadway or combination of roadways. More specifically, the roadway should be designed to be both flexible and expandable over the years as development pressures increase. An accurate comprehensive plan and zoning classification for a specific area should be adhered to so that accurate traffic analysis and design can be performed based on an eventual build-out of a given area. With an estimate of the ultimate vehicular volume moving into and out of a big box development area, the appropriate right-of-way width to service that area can be obtained at the outset of any development activity. If accurate traffic analysis reveals that a large volume of traffic will flow on a proposed roadway, as a result of the development, then an adequate right-of-way can be obtained. Roadway construction could then take place either in part or in full at that time. Should a right-of-way be too small to accommodate the eventual build-out of big box retailing in an area, the Town of Easton or future developers may have a difficult time securing additional right-of-way width to properly accommodate the development of land.

The Town of Easton approved Carlton Business Park and reviewed the proposed site usage against the ability of the area roadways to handle the traffic. Both Wal-Mart and Giant Foods have generated a greater number of traffic trips than was originally expected. This additional traffic does influence the function of the surrounding roads. Original traffic growth planning resulted in the Town requiring the commercial development to front money required for improvements to Dover Road, specifically the erection of a traffic signal at Teal Drive and Dover Road. Although this signal was not required at the outset of the development, it is now required and will be installed. Additionally, a signal is being installed at Elliott Road and MD Route 328. Both of these signals should be completed by the end of this calendar year. As in many cases, the implementation of traffic improvement measures occurs over time and as needed and not necessarily at the outset of the development.

ANSWER: The Town Engineer’s office has historically maintained a positive working relationship with both the State Highway Administration and the Talbot County Department of Public Works. It is anticipated that this relationship will only improve as we more forward. The Town Engineer’s office has had several productive meetings with the State Highway Administration with regards to the traffic flow in and around Easton, both on State Highway roads and secondary roads in the County and in the Town. Similarly, the Town Engineer’s office and the County Engineer’s office enjoy a close working relationship and often share resources. Improvements are continually being made to open up the lines of communication between our offices so that efficiencies can be realized during concept, planning, design and construction for various projects. The Town Engineer’s office has every confidence that it can anticipate full cooperation and productive interaction with the professional engineering staffs of both the State Highway Administration and Talbot County regarding traffic and roadway design issues as a result of additional big box retailing. However, all persons concerned with these issues must understand that decisions to construct highway projects, particularly projects involving significant expense, are based upon a variety of factors at both the State and County levels beyond the control of professional staffs: policy and political considerations, funding priorities, fiscal limitations and similar factors. We do not want to oversimplify the challenges facing Easton in this regard.

ANSWER: This is a public policy determination and is beyond the scope of the Town Staff’s purview.

ANSWER: Due to the generally large volume of traffic generated by a big box development, the Town of Easton should enhance and further clarify minimum standards of service for affected roadway systems and intersections. One standard jurisdictions adopt is roadway Level of Service (LOS). Level of service is defined as those operational conditions within a traffic stream as perceived by users of the traffic facility. Practically, level of service is a mechanism to measure factors such as speed, delay, and density of a road or intersection. There are six levels of service, A through F, with A being the highest level of service, and F being the lowest level of service. The State Highway Administration finds that level of service A through D is acceptable. Talbot County strives to achieve a level of service C or better on its roadway systems. The Town of Easton should promote convenient traffic design throughout the Town and accept level of service C or better on its roadways and intersections. Part of the Town’s comprehensive plan outlines several improvements and suggested design standards for traffic flow on U.S. Route 50. These improvements include limiting new commercial accesses, reducing the number of existing commercial accesses, planning for a grade separated intersection at the northern end of Route 50 at MD Route 322, and the construction of a new limited access major collector on the east side of the Town which would reduce through traffic traveling on U.S. Route 50. In promoting a level of service C for the roadway and intersections along, and in proximity to, U.S. Route 50, the Town can promote convenient through Town traffic on U.S. Route 50.

By way of illustration, in 1998, the level of service at the busiest time of the day for the U.S. Route 50/Md. Rt. 322 intersection was "D" in March and "E" in Summer.

Due to the large volume of truck traffic that is often associated with big box retailing, the Town Engineer’s office may require a developer to provide a specific pavement design for roadways that the development might impact. Additional standards might include an accurate determination of the worst case scenario for traffic flow. The worst case traffic volume generated from a particular big box use should be utilized in determining required roadway improvements. This is suggested due to the potential for a big box retail center to have tenant changes that could potentially increase traffic impacts to the surrounding area above what traffic impact an original tenant might cause.

To further explore the adoption of minimum standards of service for road systems affected by big box development, a review of what other jurisdictions promote can be insightful. There are different thresholds used by jurisdictions throughout the State of Maryland to assess the impact of new development. Some jurisdictions have chosen to adopt Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances that require developers to submit traffic impact studies. The Town Engineer’s office, as a matter of policy, requires traffic studies for commercial developments which, in its view, have the potential to impact local traffic conditions.

Traffic impact studies help to identify needed physical improvements if a proposed development places an increased burden on a roadway or intersection. The Town of Easton Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances specifically require traffic impact studies for subdivisions with 100 or more dwelling units, for shopping center development and for any other proposed development as determined by the Town Engineer.

For comparison, the thresholds triggering traffic studies for other jurisdictions in the State of Maryland are as follows:

Calvert County 400 two-way trips

Charles County 140 daily or 14 peak hour trips

St. Mary’s County No threshold, study required

State Highway Administration 50 or more peak hour trips

Jurisdictions have different interpretations of what constitutes an impact on roadways or intersections. Some jurisdictions look at drops in level of service, for example from LOS D to LOS E. Others look at deterioration in existing levels of service. Others allow more congestion to occur in certain areas, such as Central Business Districts or near transit stations in order to accommodate more development.

Roadway/intersections impacts used by other jurisdictions in Maryland are as follows:

Calvert County County roads - LOS C or better

The Town Engineer’s office strives to maintain or improve traffic flow and levels of service as a result of development, including big box development, within the Town. Generally, a level of service C is sought when analyzing proposed traffic modifications to roadways within the Town of Easton.

Effectively, Town ordinances do provide for minimum standards of performance. Consideration should be given to incorporating an "Adequate Facilities" or similar section to the Town of Easton Zoning Ordinance which would outline traffic level of service requirements as well as other specific traffic related issues.

ANSWER: In researching this question, two things quickly became evident. First, it was difficult to find projections for the life span of big box retailing. Second, many sources indicate that e-commerce will continue to expand and presumably take a bite out of the total retail dollars available.

Projections of the life span of Big Box Retail fall within the five to 15 year range. Speakers at the recent Chamber of Commerce’s Growth Symposium mentioned five to ten years. Speakers on the video tape mentioned 10 to 15 years as the projected life span. Peter Calthorpe in an August 1998 Planning magazine article stated that "I think big box will go away in the next 10 years because of electronic shopping."

Of course, this is not to suggest that in ten years the big boxes will all suddenly disappear. Rather, what is likely to happen, if in fact Big Box retailing dies out, is that the number of new applications for Big Boxes will dwindle to very few but numerous already built Big Boxes will remain. Some will still survive, probably even thrive. Some will be "recycled" to new uses (see next sub-question) and some will sit vacant.

The factor that so many people see as hastening the "demise" of Big Box retailing is e-commerce, (i.e. online or internet shopping). E-commerce has exploded in recent years and projections are for it to continue to do so. Michael Griffis in an About.com article from February 16, 1998 titled "Retailing in America" opines: "The big-box stores will fall prey to the next wave of retailing, the internet-only retailer. Consumer durable retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy will have the most difficult fight, but nondurable and soft-goods retailers will suffer too."

Actual real number projections tend to support this notion. A September 28, 1999 CNET News.com article ("Report E-tail sales to reach $20.2 billion in 1999") cites a Forrester Research survey which projects U.S. online sales should reach $20.2 billion this year fueled largely by 7 million new internet shoppers. The same survey projects that an estimated 49 million U.S. households will spend $184 billion online by 2004. Ultimately the firm expects such sales to level off at around 50 million households.

In summary, the phenomenon that is big box retailing seems destined to wane in the next five to 15 years leaving a mix of successful, recycled, and vacant stores. This is not, incidentally, unlike the evolution of downtown stores and suburban shopping centers.

ANSWER: As described in the previous answer, it seems inevitable that communities will have to deal with the prospect of vacant big boxes in the not-too-distant future. This is fueled by what appears to be the natural retail evolution (as described above) and is exacerbated by two factors at polar opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, big box stores are being vacated by a series of mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies. On the other hand there are stores vacated by successful businesses building even larger stores in the same community. Together it all adds up to what has become a major problem in many places. In Chicago, for example, there are 175 retail big boxes (defined by the study as stores in excess of 20,000 square feet) sitting vacant, representing 9.5 million square feet of formerly retail space (see "Re-positioning Vacant Retail Boxes"). In Houston, eight retailers have closed 34 big boxes since 1997, leaving more than 1 million square feet of retail space (See "Thinking Outside the Box," CIRE Magazine Article).

It thus appears likely that vacant big boxes are something that communities are going to have to deal with in the future. The simplest choice for communities would be to allow these stores to be reused. Some have suggested a more radical approach. For example, journalist Neal Pierce has suggested that communities require big box merchants to post a $5 million demolition bond that would be used to destroy the store, if it were vacated within a certain length of time, say five years (See Planning, "Rewrapping the Big Box"). Others have suggested that while this option might be attractive to a number of communities, it is an unlikely approach since firms that are going out of business do not generally have spare cash (ibid).

The more common approach would seem to be to allow or even to encourage the reuse of vacated big boxes. Some will be reused by another retailer. Others, however, will struggle to find an adaptive reuse as there is simply an excess of retail space in the country (see "Re-positioning Vacant Retail Boxes"). Those that are well located will likely be used by another retailer. Often time this is seen as the path of least resistance by both the lenders and the tenants (see Commercial Investment Real Estate, "Thinking Outside the Box").

Examples of adaptively reused big boxes abound and run a wide spectrum. Some have been subdivided into smaller retail spaces for multiple tenants. Others have been turned into such things as grocery stores, athletic facilities, self-storage warehouses, office buildings (especially call centers), and even churches (ibid). All of these possibilities seem to be at least conceivable in Easton. While any use of a building is generally preferable to a vacant building, clearly some uses are more preferable. Churches and governmental/institutional uses, for example, would remove a rather large property from the tax rolls of the Town.

It seems that the most prudent step, at least initially, for insuring the successful re-use of a vacated big box is to think about that possibility when reviewing the application for the initial store. This is part of the philosophy behind the so called "Fort Collins" standards. The architectural enhancements that it requires, such as multiple entrances and varied facades, are designed not only to make the big box more attractive, but also to make it as easy as possible to be re-used as subdivided, multiple tenant space.