Fighting warehouse project, Perryman coalition calls on AG’s office for help

“The Perryman Peninsula isn’t just a piece of land, but it literally holds the history of Harford County in its soil.”

The citizen-led 3P Protect Perryman Peninsula coalition held a news conference Thursday in Annapolis where they released an environmental justice report focusing on the decades of environmental, social challenges and neglect in Perryman.

The coalition plans to give the report, “Turning the Tide,” to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown in hopes he’ll investigate the continued development to potentially halt it.

“We made small progress on the local level with small breaks in the development,” said Paul Fallace, president of 3P Protect Perryman Peninsula. “Now, it’s time to take it to the state level to make a real change.”

The coalition has been fighting against the proposed development of 5.2 million square feet of warehouse space on the Mitchell property in Perryman since late 2021.

The Aegis reported that the five-warehouse project on Perryman Peninsula faced heavy criticism in 2021 because Chesapeake Real Estate Group, the company in charge of the development, weren’t communicating any details about it, namely, how long it has been in progress.

When community members found out about the project, it had already been in the works for eight or nine months.

Additionally, the project was set to have a tractor-trailer storage and employee parking, all on the Mitchell Property as well as a connecting road from Chelsea Road to Perryman, complete with sidewalks and bike lanes.

However, the area it would occupy has been zoned for “light infrastructure” since 1997. It was previously designated as an agricultural zone on the 1982 Harford County zoning map and R1 (residential) on the 1989 map, meaning only buildings that fit the “light industrial” description can be built in the area.

A Facebook group turned coalition, 3P Protect Perryman Peninsula has taken major actions against this project throughout the years, including filing lawsuits.

Back in September, the coalition expressed their frustrations on county warehouse legislation at a town hall where tensions flared between residents and Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly.

The Aegis reported that residents said Cassilly — who, in his 2022 campaign for county executive, voiced support for 3P — hasn’t done enough for the cause.

Residents asked why studies, such as a water study, had not been done under the warehouse moratorium that was enacted by the Harford County Council last April. In response, Cassilly said updated studies had not been completed because of the “exorbitant amount of time” each one would take.

However, the coalition compiled its report through donated funds of about $10,000. Fallace said the information on the report was compiled through research from the coalition’s historical committee and Glenn Dudderar, a retired professor from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in wildlife.

— Pastor Danton Whitley Sr., the assistant pastor of Refuge Temple COGIC in Perryman

The historical committee searched through written records to provide the historical significance of the land, while Dudderar provided studies and insight on the environmental impact.

“The Perryman Peninsula isn’t just a piece of land, but it literally holds the history of Harford County in its soil,” said Pastor Danton Whitley Sr., the assistant pastor of Refuge Temple COGIC in Perryman.

The history of the area provides insight on the Perryman Peninsula community, and according to the report, one of its wealthiest men in 1689 owned five unnamed enslaved individuals as well as indentured servants and farmers.

“I am a descendant of the enslaved in the Perryman Peninsula,” resident Tamie Wainwright, a historian, said. “I speak for their struggle, and I seek to acknowledge their sacrifice.”

Over the years, the wealthy would increase their amount of slaves until the slaves escaped; now, 37% of the community are African Americans, according to the report.

The area has a 55% employment rate, which lags behind the state average of 61.9%, according to the report.

Additionally, the area has a slew of environmental issues including soil and water contamination, air quality with elevated ozone levels while it lacks local parks and sidewalks, according to the report.

“As we look at the Perryman Peninsula, we notice the absence of sidewalks which is one of the most basic forms of connectivity for its residence,” Whitley said. “The industrialization of this area has exacerbated the situation, transforming it into an environmental battlefield.”

Prior to September’s town hall, the Harford County Council passed a bill in April 2023 that placed a 90-day moratorium on warehouse development in the county. A 45-day extension of the moratorium later passed in June 2023.

The coalition is providing the full report to Attorney General Brown, so he can investigate the development, Fallace said.

The coalition hopes the attorney general will put a hold on the development for years until studies and plans are updated to match the concerns addressed in the report, Fallace said.

“I urge you as our esteemed Attorney General to consider the valuable insight in turning the tide and to undertake the racial, environmental and socio-economical inequities in the Perryman Peninsula to find a way forward,” said Harford County Councilperson Jacob Bennett, in a letter read by Heather Cantos on Thursday.