Why can we leave no land alone?
The slings and arrows continue to fly over the planned office building in Quiet Waters Park. It amazes me that this land-use battle over one building has generated so much press and vitriol with each side accusing the other of misleading statements — and worse.
This occurs as the press and public seem oblivious to much more destructive developments with the loss of much more forest and open space. My column detailing the self-enrichment of former Gov. Larry Hogan on land-use deals in this county and around the state was met by a collective snore as the media fails to investigate this issue.
Having spent a decade leading efforts to assure a sensible, environmentally sound outcome for the 176 acres at Crystal Spring/ Mas Que Farm, I promised myself to stay out of other land-use battles. Despite an extraordinary plan for a senior-only development, city approval has been delayed for The Village at Providence Point until the city complies with a judge’s ruling requiring details of the reasoning for granting certain forest conservation variances. The only landuse exception I have made involves cases of development of Critical Area wetland lots in my Oyster Harbor community.
Citizens repeatedly turn to me for my involvement and advice on developments that concern them. These cases include the ill-advised conversion of the wildlife management area at Greenbury Point to a golf course with all of the environmental problems this would bring. I at first ignored a call to duty by my battle-tested colleagues Anastasia Hopkinson and Ray Sullivan over the plans to construct a two-story office building for a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Critical Area in Quiet Waters Park. But in examining the issue and speaking with Andy Loftus, president of Friends of Quiet Waters Park, I became convinced to engage to try and reach a satisfactory resolution.
We succeeded in gaining a meeting with leaders of County Recreation and Parks and the Chesapeake Conservancy on Dec. 12. One of the county executive’s top staffers, Chris Trumbauer, chaired the 60-minute meeting. Deep diving into the plans and the positions of the county, the conservancy and other supporters, the thorough discussion of the lease and plans for construction led me to clearly conclude that plans for the construction of the office building and the roads and parking lots to serve it on county parkland in the Critical Area should be stopped.
Why?
1. Such private office development for private purposes with a new road and parking areas sets a dangerous precedent for future development for private uses in county parks, even if for nonprofit groups.
2. There are absolutely no benefits to the park or the general public from the construction of this two-story office structure. The lease at $1 a year for 30 years allows the conservancy to hold fundraisers and other meetings of 50 people without approval, and, with approval, there could be much larger events. This would deprive the county of rental fees for the Blue Heron room.
3. One of the reasons for the building being called a Conservation Center is that the conservancy would establish its offices there and could rent out space to other conservation NGOs. Meetings and conferences would be held there. The existing Blue Heron room accommodates 170 people and could be used for all such purposes except rental offices.
4. The construction and use of the office building will bring much more traffic to the park.
5. The construction takes down several significant trees and other trees, and would block water views.
6. The county plans include an adjoining lot that could be developed in the future.
7. There is no compelling need for a new commercial grade office building in a park next to a residential area when Anne Arundel County has about a 10% office space vacancy rate with at least 496 listings of office space available. The conservancy, with the generosity of the Earls, could purchase/ lease an existing office building and use it as a Conservation Center.
8. The Crownsville Center offers a wise alternative where the conservancy and its tenants could use an existing structure for their purposes, either renovating it or building a new building on its footprint.
9. The plans released to the public on Oct. 31 left most of us surprised, including the Friends of Quiet Waters Park. The president of the Friends group noted how the group was left out of planning since last March despite expressing concerns and a promise to be kept in the loop. This lack of transparency and public input has fueled the outcry against the office building construction.
10. Quiet Waters Park is a public park and the public should be heard and their views respected not denigrated. It takes a lot to get 250 citizens turning out on a Friday night to hear about plans for a park.
After the details of the construction were fully revealed to the public, the withering opposition led to the withdrawal of the conservancy’s plans. This occurred only after James and Sylvia Earl, the generous and public-spirited financiers of $2 million toward the 19.4 acre acquisition and for the conservancy building, had heard the public’s vigorous challenges to the plans. It is a real shame they had to go through this with their good intentions.
Where do we go from here?
Loftus has sent a letter signed by community leaders to the county executive and Joel Dunn, conservancy CEO, laying out a constructive way forward. First, the lease should be formally canceled by both parties.
Second, the 19.4-acre addition should be named The James and Sylvia Earl Conservation Overlook (or a name of the Earls’ choosing) and signs and plaques posted to commemorate their generosity and the efforts of the Chesapeake Conservancy in the acquisition of the 19.4 acres.
And the planned Rec and Parks public meeting at the park on Feb. 13 should be used to begin the necessary collaboration with the Friends of Quiet Waters Park to take a fresh look at the other aspects of the planned $4-$5 million in capital improvements for the new acquisition and elsewhere in the park. There are many needed improvements in the plan and others are necessary. Rec and Parks should involve the Friends of Quiet Waters Park before proceeding, then seek broader public involvement.
I was disappointed by the refusal of my council member, Lisa Rodvien, to return my phone calls and emails, this being the only time I tried to contact her during her four years in office. I suggest she and County Executive Steuart Pittman use their time and energy to honor their written campaign pledges of 2018 to sponsor and work to gain passage of a no-net loss of forest from development ordinance as the City of Annapolis adopted.
The failure to do so has led to the destruction of hundreds of acres of forest. This seems to me to be a much wiser course of action than expending so much time promoting the construction of an office building in Quiet Waters Park.
What is it about humans that they can leave no piece of land untouched?