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New Market plan doesn't detail how FCPS will handle an additional 450 children.

Originally published March 18, 2011

By Patti S. Borda

Photo by Sam Yu

New Market Mayor Winslow Burhans III talks Wednesday about one of the areas he would like to annex to be part of New Market. The area is east of Md. 75 and includes the McDonald’s and Food Lion.

New Market Mayor Winslow Burhans III is not threatened by a Friends of Frederick County lawsuit that accuses the town of failing to plan properly for growth, traffic and school capacity.

“We took the issues straight on,” he said in an e-mail. “We spent a lot of time with cost calculations, yields and financing, and growth staging mechanisms.”

Burhans said the town plans to make the most of its geographic fate along major metropolitan roads such as Md. 144 and I-70.

“It’s automatically going to have growth pressures,” he said.

When the first brick was laid in the Baltimore National Pike from the Port of Baltimore to head westward to Ohio, running through downtown New Market, “that meant change was coming,” Burhans said. “You have to be able to embrace the fact that change is coming.”

Janice Wiles, Friends of Frederick executive director, said in a telephone interview the New Market plan contains comments from state and county officials that indicate the plan is inadequate.

Wiles, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the county board last year, said the lawsuit is not politically motivated, and is based on deficiencies in the town’s plan.

“We are concerned about development when the community can’t afford it,” Wiles said. “We have to come up with a new way to grow.”

Burhans defends his plan as one with the town’s best interests in mind, but said it is “just a plan.” Details are worked out as studies are completed, he said.

“When you are seventh generation to a town, it is pretty clear that no one, not even FoFC, should underestimate the care one has about all aspects of the town, because whatever the town does wrong becomes a reflection of me,” he said.

Burhans’ vision includes a grid of roads to serve traffic in and around town and new employment bases to give residents a place to work without having to drive so far.

“We want people to be able to live here, work here,” Burhans said. “We want to create a community, a traditional neighborhood.”

He stresses that the town took worst-case scenarios to build its plan.

“We didn’t want to be accused of painting a favorable growth scenario,” he wrote. “We didn’t hide behind anything.”

Part of Burhans’ plan will depend on annexing land, some of which could yield 925 houses.

The residential component would cost more in infrastructure than it would bring in revenue, Wiles said, and “the jobs that they’re proposing do nothing to resurrect downtown.”

Burhans said the town has traffic problems already because previous Boards of County Commissioners blocked all corridors. Roads north of Md. 144 and south of Gas House Pike funnel east-west traffic through New Market, and the town would like to do something about it, Burhans said.

“The previous board made it a thoroughfare for commuters,” he said. “I think this board will talk roads. They are unlike any other Board of County Commissioners” in their willingness to work with municipalities, he said.

Commissioners President Blaine Young said the board will have a meeting with Burhans to discuss his concerns and the county’s disapproval of the town plan.

“We will address it,” Young said by telephone.

In place of the official town planning, Friends of Frederick implemented a community-driven process called the New Market Tomorrow initiative, which will culminate in a comprehensive vision for the town of New Market.

“We have the best interest of the greater Frederick community at heart,” Wiles said.

Updates about the initiative will be available at www.friendsoffrederickcounty.org.

More than a dozen landowners and the Audubon Society of Central Maryland Inc. joined Friends as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. A proposed bypass and development on the Delaplaine and Smith/Cline properties would harm the adjacent Fred J. Archibald Audubon Sanctuary, according to a Friends statement.

The issue in New Market is not the activities of Friends of Frederick County, but the town’s sprawling growth plan that will, in some form or another, ultimately impact every resident of Frederick County through crowded schools, traffic gridlock and higher taxes to subsidize the services and infrastructure needed to support growth.

Everyone can agree that economic vitality is needed, and now. But with over 5,300 vacant houses sitting on the market in Frederick County, annexing farmland to build even more is a road to nowhere.

Friends of Frederick County is a coalition of concerned citizens, farmers and business people who have brought a refreshing mandate of accountability to locally elected officials which is simply this: Follow the law. The sprawling, costly, unhealthy, environmentally and socially destructive growth planned for New Market is not only contradictory to the town’s own stated objectives but also out of compliance with state law.

Town leaders did not analyze and plan, as required by law, for the costs of services and infrastructure, such as roads, schools, emergency services, water and sewer service, and the impact of growth on environmentally sensitive areas. The law requires this assessment for a good reason: because taxpayers are often left footing the bill for future costs of residential and commercial sprawl. Unfunded mandates are routinely foisted on the public by many developers in Frederick County, where for years citizens have unwittingly paid higher taxes to cover the cost of more schools, more roads, sewer and water services, and more pollution.

Compliance with the law is something we should demand of all elected officials, along with a healthy dose of fiscal common sense. New Market’s plan throws that all overboard and reaches far beyond their own growth projections of 468 houses by the year 2030. The Smith Cline annexation alone plans for 925 homes. With 5,300 vacant homes in the county, you have to wonder why.

The “if you build it they will come” mentality of the past is simply not viable in the wreckage of vacant subdivisions dotting the countryside. But reality has not yet reached the leaders of New Market who cling to the notion that bulldozing and building creates jobs, even if no one happens to be buying. The New Market plan is not about progress or smart growth, it is a desperate attempt by developers and special interests to go back to the bubble economy days when real estate speculators could turn a profit selling futures in massive, budget-busting subdivisions — the public interest be damned.

Moving the county economy beyond its dependence on real estate speculation is why Friends of Frederick County came into existence more than seven years ago. That is why Friends is supporting a citizens initiative to prepare a plan for New Market that will meet New Market’s stated objective for “orderly, compact, phased and compatible growth as an alternative to suburban sprawl, automobile-dependent development that has consumed hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable land across our county” (see p. 5 New Market Municipal Growth Element addendum June 9, 2010).

The consequences of land-use decisions almost always fall on the shoulders of citizens. It is reasonable for them to have a voice in these affairs. That’s not demagoguery, or “meddling,” as Mr. Koehler puts it, it’s democracy.

Janice Wiles is the executive director of Friends of Frederick County; Amy Farber is a member of the board of directors of FoFC

Originally published March 13, 2011

If developers are willing to “promise” that they will cover the cost of new school construction, then what was the point of repealing that part of the APFO?

Our BoCC is supposed to act in the best interest of the citizens of Frederick County — not developers. What possible benefit will the county derive from this action? How will it benefit the average person/family in Frederick County?

Those aren’t rhetorical questions; I’d really like to hear some answers.

The APFO should be made stronger, not weaker. The current APFO already passes a significant portion of the cost of growth on to existing residents. Property taxes continue to increase at a rate greater than inflation. We are tired of paying for development that we do not need and do not want, and angry about being forced to pay for residential sprawl that reduces our quality of life.

Just 25 years ago violent crime was very rare in Frederick and Frederick County. Now, it is a daily occurrence and murders are commonplace. The traffic is ridiculous. Even with the current APFO in place, schools are embarrassingly overcrowded — classes are held in trailers that resemble mobile homes. In short, Frederick County has gone downhill since residential development began in earnest about 20 years ago.

Originally published March 07, 2011

SHERMAN JOHNSON

Middletown

Cline Farm, New Market (Harry Richardson, artist)

This letter is in response to Mark Koehler’s Feb. 28 letter titled “Not Friends …” in which he takes to task Friends of Frederick County’s involvement in the politics of New Market. I, too, have a New Market mailing address, albeit not in the Town of New Market; however, I live very close to the town and have had the opportunity to attend their Town Council and planning and zoning meetings. I have followed very closely many discussions and decisions by the New Market elected officials as they pertain to the surrounding environment in which the residents of New Market live.I am a concerned citizen who is writing to factually rebut Koehler’s accusations against Friends of Frederick County. HB 1141 is a clearly defined law that outlines how municipalities are to address their Municipal Growth Element (MGE). After the town submitted their MGE, the Maryland Planning Department’s, as well as the State Highway Administration’s, response to the town’s submittal outlined in very clear terms how poorly this document was executed and provided very distinct recommendations for aligning the town’s MGE with HB 1141.

Town officials chose to ignore the majority of these recommendations. During their Nov. 17, 2010 meeting an individual who was providing guidance to the town officials stated that “if the Maryland Planning Department doesn’t write their response in bold then we don’t need to worry about it.” Perhaps it would have been more helpful to suggest that the Maryland Planning Department, as well as the State Highway Administration, were much more versed in the requirements of HB 1141 and as such their comments should be taken seriously.

Friends of Frederick County has not been “frequently meddling in New Market’s affairs” as stated by Koehler, but rather became involved once it became apparent New Market town officials chose to ignore the recommendations made by the Maryland Planning Department with regard to their MGE.

The fact of the matter is, had town officials worked with the State Planning Commission, as well as the State Highway Administration, to design their MGE to meet the requirements of HB 1141, the Town of New Market would not now find themselves in the position of being sued. I would also venture a guess that if town officials would be willing to reconsider the wording of their MGE so that it unequivocally met the requirements of HB 1141, no monies would be have to be spent defending a plan that appears to be fallible.

I would invite all concerned citizens to visit the Maryland Planning Department’s website to gain factual insight into this situation.

Vitriolic rhetoric accomplishes nothing. I believe if everyone comes to the table with an open mind we would understand that everyone is seeking quality of life. This is not about stopping development but rather about developing our community in a smart, well-thought-out way that does not force us to live in an extended Montgomery County. If we all try to work together I believe we can all achieve that which matters most to us.

Brenda Harlow lives near New Market.

Originally published March 05, 2011

The Smith/Cline property is located northwest of the town limits, the Delaplaine property is north of the town, and the Ganley property is to the east. Informational fliers distributed by the Friends of Frederick County state that any annexation and development of the three properties would double the size of New Market and almost triple its population by adding 2,450 residents to the town. The current population of New Market is a little over 600 people.

While the Smith/Cline parcel would be zoned residential, both the Delaplaine and Ganley properties would be zoned for mixed commercial and industrial use.

The complaint, filed Tuesday morning, alleges that the amended master plan violates state law. In November, the New Market Town Council added a state-mandated “municipal growth element” section to its master plan. The complaint says the newly-added section violates state law because it does not address the updates to infrastructure or public services that would be needed to accommodate the growth.

At a meeting Tuesday where several of the complainants were present, Janice Wiles, executive director of Friends of Frederick County, said the organization is serving to bring together the people who felt their concerns weren’t being heard through the normal avenues, like town council meetings and planning and zoning meetings.

The organization, which was started more than five years ago to promote land conservation within the county, is launching an initiative called “New Market Tomorrow.” It will “involve taxpayers, business owners, landowners, and families in creating an opportunity to express their vision for the future,” according to documents distributed at the meeting.

Marion Griffin, a complainant in attendance, said her home backs up to one of the sites being considered for potential annexation. She’s worried about increased traffic, potential water runoff if a tree ridge on the land behind her house is taken down for development, and decreased property value.

Although she said she’s been to town meetings that addressed the annexation issue, Griffin noted that it’s hard for residents to keep themselves up to date on the schedule because the town’s website isn’t often updated.

Rick Fleshman, owner of Fleshman’s Antiques in downtown New Market, agreed.

Mayor Winslow Burhans III said he’s heard similar “excuses” before. “Town hall is not too hard to find and nor is the phone book too hard to pick up,” he said.

Although all the New Market residents in attendance at today’s meeting said they have attended public forums to discuss the annexation issue, Burhans said that none of the Friends of Frederick County board members have ever been present.

Burhans said he heard about the court complaint because the town hall e-mail address was copied onto a press release about today’s meeting.

The Friends of Frederick County are “more about show than substance,” Burhans said. Although he hopes the town will be able to annex the three parcels in the future, none of them are pending annexations, he said.

He called the master plan “a guide that has no force or effect in law.” The complaint “is a frivolous law suit by an angry group,” he added.

But his opinion is that the town needs to grow in order to be eligible for grants and other types of funding. Although New Market applied to be part of the Main Street Maryland program, which was created by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development in 1998 to “improve the economy, appearance and image of [participating towns'] traditional downtown business districts,” according to the website, it was denied because it didn’t meet the minimum population requirements, Burhans said.

Burhans would also like to see a bypass built as part of a development agreement to handle the town’s traffic. Neither the county nor the town has money for such a road in its budget, he said.

But Wiles, a Frederick resident, said the lawsuit and the “New Market Tomorrow” initiative is “not about saying ‘no’” to the annexations flat out. “It is about giving citizens an opportunity to control their own destiny, their property values, their taxes and the quality of life for their families and future generations,” she said.

Resident Virginia Arneson encapsulated the general feeling of the complainants who were present at the meeting with one statement. It’s not that growth shouldn’t happen, “it just needs to be better controlled,” Arneson said.

“Once we get served the papers we will meet in executive session with our attorney,” Burhans said, adding that he is unsure at this time if the issue will be discussed at the next town meeting, on March 9. “I guess it depends on what our attorney advises us to do,” he said.

cpomeroy@gazette.net

Policies had little impact on sprawl, congestion

By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun

12:10 AM EST, January 6, 2011

http://www.herald-mail.com/news/bs-gr-smart-growth-20110105,0,2068333.story

With the approval of the New Market Municipal Growth Element (MGE), the Town of New Market is now able to annex the Delaplaine, Ganley and Smith/Cline farms.  These annexations would more than double the size of the Town  from about 434 acres to about 880 acres.  The 925 residential units proposed for Smith/Cline alone will almost triple the population of the Town by adding approximately 2,451 people and increasing the number of residents from 1443 residents (at full build-out of existing subdivisions) to 3,894 residents.

The location of these farms are shown in purple cross-hatching on the Land Use map below. These proposed annexations are contiguous or very near to the Meadows, the Orchards, Brinkley Manor, Royal Oaks, Sponseller’s Addition, New Market West and New Market Farms.  They are also contiguous or very near to municipal recreational facilities, parks and open space; and an Audubon Bird Sanctuary (there may be a few alterations on the road location but FoFC doesn’t have the new map yet.  Even though the plan was approved last night citizens/residents still haven’t been able to actually SEE the plan that affects their home values, quality of life etc).

The Town proposes that Delaplaine and Ganley be developed for commercial and industrial purposes which, under the Town’s development regulations, include heavy manufacturing, heavy vehicle repair, truck stops, public heliports, recycling and storage, public works yard/garage, warehouses, fast food drive-thru restaurants, motels, commercial parking lots and gasoline stations.  The heavy traffic, air pollution, noise, dust, glare, smoke, toxic chemicals and visual impacts associated with these uses would severely impact the surrounding communities, recreational facilities, parks, open space and sanctuaries.
The 925 residential units proposed for Smith/Cline would generate about 9,000 additional car trips per day, greatly worsen traffic on Boyers Mill Road, lead to far more “cut-through” traffic in adjoining neighborhoods, and exacerbate traffic congestion and safety hazards on narrow, winding road segments and local intersections.

The Smith/Cline development would yield 583 pupils. As a result, Smith/Cline would  severely exacerbate school overcrowding and require the construction of at least one new public school whose cost would exceed by $10 Million the revenues generated by developer impact fees. According to the Frederick County Public School System, the cost of educating each public school student is about $12,000 per year.  These costs would amount to a total of $6,996,000 annually for the Smith/Cline development.  For these and other reasons, the Frederick County Board of County Commissions recently classified and zoned these properties for agriculture use only in its 2010 Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map.

Read the review comments:

Maryland Department of Planning’s comments on New Market MGE and cover letter

Frederick County Division of Planning

Maryland Department of Transportation

New Market Citizen Comments on MGE

Friends of Frederick County Comments on MGE

To become involved or express your concern please contact: friends@friendsoffrederickcounty.org

Contact Friends of Frederick County to find out more about the Municipal Growth Plan process:  friends@friendsoffrederickcounty.org ref:  New Market MGE