EASTON PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

P.O. Box 520

Easton, Maryland 21601

December 1, 1999

Mayor C. Eugene Butler

and Members of the Easton Town Council

14 S. Harrison Street

Easton, Maryland 21601

Dear Mayor Butler and Members of the Council:

    Please find enclosed herewith the report of the Easton Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the Commission's review of material submitted to date with regard to the "Big Box" Retailing Issue.

Our report recommends some amendments to the Easton Comprehensive Plan as well as modifications to the Easton Zoning Ordinance and the Easton Subdivision Regulations. Maryland law provides that amendments to the Comprehensive Plan are initiated by the Planning and Zoning Commission and forwarded to the Town Council after a public hearing at the Commission level. We will make arrangements for the Commission to have its public hearing on the amendments to the Comprehensive Plan as soon as possible.

Enclosure

cc: Members of the Easton Planning & Zoning Commission

     Prompted by several applications for so-called "Big Box" retail stores totaling in excess of 500,000 square feet, considerably larger than anything anticipated when the 1997 Comprehensive Plan was adopted, and considering tat these applications propose locations of such stores beyond the Town Center and outside of existing shopping centers in contradiction of the guidelines of the 199 Comprehensive Plan, the Town Council enacted a 90 day moratorium upon "big box" retail development applications in September, 1999. The purpose of the moratorium was to enable to Town Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission, affected parties and the community as a whole to examine the effects, both positive and negative, of additional big box retail development in Easton. Tile Commission and the Council framed questions relating to all aspects of this issue and the Council and the Commission received reports from Town staff as well as a wide variety of comments from the public. In addition, the Star Democrat, the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce and the Easton Business Management Authority, sponsored symposia or similar opportunities for experts from both with and outside Talbot County to comment on these issues.

    Many different interest groups have participated in this public debate both by statements at public hearings and by written statements: a good sampling of Town and County residents, merchants, property owners, developers as well as the various public service departments of the Town. While the views expressed by different parties have varied widely, there is a broad (although not universal) consensus that Easton is a unique community whose identity is threatened by development trends which will remain as significant influences upon the Town for the foreseeable future.

    The Easton Planning and Zoning Commission has reviewed the material and presentations made regarding the role of additional big box retailing for Easton for the purposes of making recommendations to the elected officials of the Town regarding changes to the Town's Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance and other land use regulations.

It is the consensus of the Planning Commission that:

• Although the public debate over the role of additional big box retailing revealed concerns over the potentially damaging effects of additional big box retailing in Easton, there is a limited role for future commercial development proposals which might feature additional big box retailing as one aspect of the development.

• New commercial development should be designed and constructed in a way as to enhance Easton's identity and characteristics and not detract from them.

• Perhaps equally as important to additional guidelines for new development, the Town should take steps to enhance and to tie the existing Marlboro Road commercial area to the Downtown by such things as sidewalk improvements and pedestrian crossings.

• The role of additional big box retailing in Easton for the remainder of the effective period of the current Comprehensive Plan should be limited both as to size of individual stores and the amount of additional development.

The Commission believes that the most appropriate way to give meaning to these recommendations will be to amend the Comprehensive Plan to provide for a specific, concise definition of Easton's identity and characteristics and to add a more detailed description of the role of additional big box retailing in Easton for the remainder of the Plan period. These recommendations are set out in Parts II through IV of this Report. In addition, the Commission recommends that the Council consider several other amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and/or the Subdivision Regulations. These recommendations are set out in Part V of this Report.

The Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan should be supplemented by adding the following language to page 5:

EASTON'S IDENTITY

    Easton is a small town which offers to residents and visitors a quality of life difficult if not impossible to duplicate anywhere else in the United States. As an example, Easton is ranked as one of the ten best small towns in America and as one of the best small towns in America for the arts. It is the only small town in Maryland to appear on either list See N. Crampton, THE 100 BEST SMALL TOWNS IN AMERICA p.121 (2d Ed., 1995) and J. Villani 1OO BEST SMALL ART TOWNS IN AMERICA: DISCOVER CREATIVE COMMUNITIES, FRESH AIR AND AFFORDABLE LIVING(3^rd Ed., 1998).

The Town's identity is subject to change for several reasons:

• to some extent, the Town is a victim of its own success as its reputation for small-town

              charm and livability- spreads, increasing numbers of new residents wish to relocate here;

• improvements to US Route 50 in the 1980's (the "Reach the Beach" program) have

made Easton an easy commute to Annapolis and, to a lesser extent, Baltimore and Washington;

• changes in retail marketing practices have shifted retail development towards - "big box" type stores and "power centers," which pose a number of potential problems:

• A. impacts on existing and proposed residential development adjacent to a proposed locations;

• B. impacts on local and regional traffic in the vicinity- of a proposed big box location;

• C. impacts on public services such as police, fire and other emergency response teams;

• D. impacts on public water and sewer services;

• E. impacts on public safety, especially during severe storms and catastrophic events;

• F. impacts on the natural resources of the Town, County and State;

• G. potential impacts of derelict Big Box structures abandoned due to changed circumstances; and

• H. impacts on the aesthetic qualities of the Town which have assured its preservation as the commercial and cultural heart of Talbot County for more than two centuries.

• Equally threatening to Easton's ability to maintain its identity are the environmental stresses which development (both local and regional) and modern agricultural practices have imposed upon the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The paragraph beginning on Line 7 of page 22 of the Comprehensive Plan should be amended to read as follows:

       It is clear that the issue of additional big box retailing has raised deeply held concerns in this community. On the one hand, proponents of additional big box retailing cite the additional buying opportunities and convenience which big box retailing can offer. On the other hand, those who are concerned about additional big box retailing point to a variety of problems: traffic, appearance, changing the nature or atmosphere of Easton, environmental concerns and impact upon existing businesses, whether located in Easton's Downtown or its periphery.

    All of these concerns have some measure of validity. It is a function of the Comprehensive Plan and the other land use regulations of the Town to balance these competing viewpoints. Easton is not alone in this task - a number of other small towns have dealt with these issues with a variety of approaches. The way which Easton resolves these issues is not fixed and will change over time as retailing trends, population, transportation and other factors change. But, for the remainder of this plan period the following principles should guide land use decisions in this area:

• Easton is a unique small town winch derives its identity, in considerable part from its historic Downtown area and the residential neighborhoods which are in easy walking distance of the Downtown. Future development, both commercial and residential, should be designed to emulate this pattern of development to strengthen Easton's atmosphere and identity. "Cookie cutter" corporate designs and color schemes do not necessarily fulfill these goals. Easton's land use regulations should be amended to enable the Town to deny development proposals which do not meet this criteria. Publications which set out in detail the type of commercial development winch would be appropriate for the Town are:

• Arendt, Randall. Rural By Design: Maintaining Small Town Character:

Chicago: American Planning Association, 1994.

• Beaumont, Constance E. Better Models for Superstores: Alternatives for Big-Box Sprawl. Washington: National Trust for Historic Preservation. 1997.

• Fleming, Ronald Lee. Saving Face: How Corporate Franchise Design Can

  Respect Community Identity. Report No. 452. Chicago: American

  Planning Association and The Townscape Institute, June 1994.

• While Easton has a proper role as one of several regional retailing centers, fulfilling this role should not come at the cost of compromising Easton's unique and attractive small town character.

• The 1997 Comprehensive Plan recommended that additional commercial development occur as vacancies occur in existing centers or adjacent to the Downtown. This recommendation is specifically affirmed.

• As indicated above, additional big box retailing should be encouraged to locate in areas in or adjacent to the existing Downtown and the existing commercial development areas on Marlboro Road. This is not to imply that additional big box retailing should be excluded from other commercially zoned areas of the Town.

• There has not yet been a case made for additional shopping centers in Easton of the type which has been traditionally constructed in this Town, i.e. strip centers. Thus, one of the statements made in the 1997 Comprehensive Plan, that there is no need for additional shopping centers in Easton at that time, appears to be equally as valid in 1999/2000 as it pertains to strip centers. However, the design criteria referenced above, e.g. Rural By Design: Maintaining Small Town Character, often work best in the context of comprehensive site designs. The recommendation in the Comprehensive Plan against additional strip centers should be not be interpreted as discouraging floating zone mechanisms to facilitate innovative, comprehensively planned designs.

• As big box retail stores increase in size, negative land use impacts increase also. As size increases, it becomes increasingly more difficult to maintain compatibility of appearance and scale with the Town's small town atmosphere. Thus, once a big box retail store exceeds 65,000 square feet, including outdoor retail and storage areas, it is of such a scale that its negative impacts outweigh its positive ones and as such has no place in Easton for the remaining plan period. The Easton Zoning Ordinance should be amended to prohibit any retail score in excess of 65,000 square feet including outdoor retail and storage areas.

• The design standards referenced herein should be made applicable to all commercial development. There is no reason why commercial buildings of less than 25,000 square feet should be held to a different standard.

• Air pollution is a problem which must be addressed at State arid National governmental levels - although Easton can, and should, encourage and/or require development patterns which will tend to reduce motor vehicle trips by local residents by requiring commercial development to include provisions for the safety and convenience of pedestrians. Water pollution is a matter over which the Town has some direct influence. Water pollution comes from two main sources: waste water and surface water run-off. The Town's waste water treatment facility appears capable of handling increased loading while remaining within State permit requirements. Surface water run-off is another matter. Currently, State of Maryland regulations focus on the quantity of rainwater discharged from a development site. Future regulations will also address surface water quality. Until the State finally promulgates new surface water regulations dealing with water quality issues, the Town should adopt the surface water treatment standards currently applicable in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area for the entire Town.

• The Town should require submission of an environmental impact analysis for major development projects to assess all environmental impacts especially surface water issues. This requirement should not be limited to commercial projects.

• As development pressures increase upon the Town and Talbot County it is critical that the Town and the County foster and maintain a high degree of cooperation regarding responsible land use planning and development, "Smart Growth" and minimizing sprawl.

    The Town should amend the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision Regulations to incorporate minimum traffic level of service requirements for major development projects, increasing the application fee for Planned Major Retail and other floating zone applications to reflect more accurately the actual expenses incurred by the Town in reviewing these applications, provide for architectural and design standards for all commercial development, and encourage or require early developer/community meetings as a part of an application process for floating zone applications.