BERLIN–Follow the rules, the county is telling Berlin.
Berlin officials want to annex approximately 129 acres across Seahawk Road from Stephen Decatur High School and Stephen Decatur Middle School into the town because a developer wants to have commercial uses and residences on the property.
On June 28, the developer acquired two parcels totaling approximately 120 acres. Of that, 34.15 acres is zoned as a general commercial district. The other parcel, approximately 86.5 acres, has a commercial land use designation of the county’s comprehensive land use map, but is zoned as agricultural.
The developer plans to purchase 9.45 acres at the southeast intersection of Seahawk Road and Route 50, the site of the former Harley-Davidson store.
The town wants to annex all of that property and rezone the first two parcels as a general business district. The third parcel would be rezoned as a residential district.
In an Oct. 28 letter to the Worcester County Commissioners, Berlin Mayor Gee Williams asks them to consent to the annexation and change of zoning classification so the developer “can proceed with the necessary process as expeditiously as possible.”
Ed Tudor, director of the county’s Department of Development Review and Permitting, advised the commissioners Nov. 19 not to do as Williams requested. To do so, he said, would be premature.
At the very least, a draft annexation plan describing the extension of services and any pertinent conditions should be provided to the county. State law requires it, Tudor said.
Without the legally required information, the county staff would not be adequately informed to assess the impacts of the proposed rezoning after annexation, Tudor said.
Of particular concern is the considerable time and effort the county has spent to develop and implement design guidelines for commercial development to preserve its sense of place and to protect the primary gateway to Ocean City.
Commissioner Virgil Shockley said he was concerned about the impact on the two schools, the service road, the road nearly parallel to Route 50 that extends from Holly Grove Road to Home Depot, and the residents who live nearby.
Tudor said a lot of time and money had been spent on that road.
“While I do not believe the town of Berlin has anything in mind other than the best of intentions, I do feel that this annexation, one much more substantial that the small infill type of annexations of the past, warrants the use of an annexation agreement by the county and the town as called for in both jurisdiction’s comprehensive plans,” Tudor wrote in his memo to the commissioners.
Attorney Mark Cropper, representing the developer, said the plan was “a very significant undertaking.”
He asked why the town could “go through all that” if the county commissioners were not going to agree to the annexation.
He brought the issue before them, he said, in case the commissioners “were going to say ‘no’ out of the gate.
“We want to know we’re not wasting our time,” Cropper said.
In his Nov. 13 letter to the commissioners, Cropper seemed to want more. The letter, he wrote, was a request asking the commissioners “to consent to the annexation and change of zoning classifications described herein in order that the project can proceed with the necessary process as expeditiously as possible.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to convey to town officials that they should proceed, but to follow the rules.
Berlin officials want to annex approximately 129 acres across Seahawk Road from Stephen Decatur High School and Stephen Decatur Middle School into the town because a developer wants to have commercial uses and residences on the property.
On June 28, the developer acquired two parcels totaling approximately 120 acres. Of that, 34.15 acres is zoned as a general commercial district. The other parcel, approximately 86.5 acres, has a commercial land use designation of the county’s comprehensive land use map, but is zoned as agricultural.
The developer plans to purchase 9.45 acres at the southeast intersection of Seahawk Road and Route 50, the site of the former Harley-Davidson store.
The town wants to annex all of that property and rezone the first two parcels as a general business district. The third parcel would be rezoned as a residential district.
In an Oct. 28 letter to the Worcester County Commissioners, Berlin Mayor Gee Williams asks them to consent to the annexation and change of zoning classification so the developer “can proceed with the necessary process as expeditiously as possible.”
Ed Tudor, director of the county’s Department of Development Review and Permitting, advised the commissioners Nov. 19 not to do as Williams requested. To do so, he said, would be premature.
At the very least, a draft annexation plan describing the extension of services and any pertinent conditions should be provided to the county. State law requires it, Tudor said.
Without the legally required information, the county staff would not be adequately informed to assess the impacts of the proposed rezoning after annexation, Tudor said.
Of particular concern is the considerable time and effort the county has spent to develop and implement design guidelines for commercial development to preserve its sense of place and to protect the primary gateway to Ocean City.
Commissioner Virgil Shockley said he was concerned about the impact on the two schools, the service road, the road nearly parallel to Route 50 that extends from Holly Grove Road to Home Depot, and the residents who live nearby.
Tudor said a lot of time and money had been spent on that road.
“While I do not believe the town of Berlin has anything in mind other than the best of intentions, I do feel that this annexation, one much more substantial that the small infill type of annexations of the past, warrants the use of an annexation agreement by the county and the town as called for in both jurisdiction’s comprehensive plans,” Tudor wrote in his memo to the commissioners.
Attorney Mark Cropper, representing the developer, said the plan was “a very significant undertaking.”
He asked why the town could “go through all that” if the county commissioners were not going to agree to the annexation.
He brought the issue before them, he said, in case the commissioners “were going to say ‘no’ out of the gate.
“We want to know we’re not wasting our time,” Cropper said.
In his Nov. 13 letter to the commissioners, Cropper seemed to want more. The letter, he wrote, was a request asking the commissioners “to consent to the annexation and change of zoning classifications described herein in order that the project can proceed with the necessary process as expeditiously as possible.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to convey to town officials that they should proceed, but to follow the rules.