Community Corner

Broadneck Citizens Fired Up over Legislative Split

Two area citizens' groups met to discuss the future of the Broadneck peninsula.

 

Broadneck officials aren't happy with a new legislative redistricting map, but it's unlikely a change can be made.

The two citizens' groups that oversee planning and growth in Broadneck met last week at a joint meeting to look into the past year, and ahead into what's coming in 2012.

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The Arnold Preservation Council and the Broadneck Council of Communities were joined on Thursday by County Councilman Dick Ladd and Bill Nevel, a member of the county’s transportation master plan committee. With these two officials in attendance, the meeting was a chance for the citizens to let officials know the issues they’re concerned the most about. 

Those key issues included:

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  • Charter Review Committee
  • Comprehensive Rezoning Process
  • Stormwater Management Fee
  • Redistricting
  • Master Transportation Plan

Redistricting

In December, Gov. Martin O'Malley unveiled

Since 2002, the region has been united under District 30.

Several residents said at the Thursday meeting that this was an unacceptable change that could lead to misrepresentation.

“Arnold is split, and we’re not happy,” said Arnold Preservation Council president Elizabeth Rosborg. “They (Severna Park) won, and we lost. We need that to be made very clear.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like any change is in order. If no changes are made to the proposal before March, it becomes law.

Rezoning Notification

Rosborg said she wants better notification of properties that are set to be rezoned through

There were a few instances during the process where the rezoning application did not come from the property owner, but from the county’s Office of Planning and Zoning.

Rosborg said she thought the county could make some strides in communicating these changes to the public.

“We feel that if a property has an application to be rezoned, that property owner should at least be made aware of it,” Rosborg said.

Ladd said he would ensure that every application would be heard. He would not submit an amendment without a public hearing, he said.

Transportation Plan

Nevill answered questions about the county and the state’s long-term look at transportation in the Broadneck region.

Rosborg asked if the state had a plan for an alternate route across the Chesapeake Bay, in case the Bay Bridge was out of service.

Nevel said there were no plans for an alternate route right now.

Rosborg said that wasn’t acceptable in the case of an emergency. She noted that an evacuation order was issued for Kent Island during Hurricane Irene.

“There’s only a handful or routes to evacuate that island,” she said. “If the Bay Bridge were closed for heavy winds, which is common during hurricanes, how are those residents going to get off the island?”


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