BCC News and Public Meeting April 12th

April 3, 2018

We welcome Spring back to the Broadneck Peninsula as our winter has been somewhat ‘spastic’ and seems to be hanging on this season. 

The BCC has been busy this year handling many challenges in support of our goal to “PRESERVE THE BROADNECK”. Your BCC team has been present at many County Council Hearings and at Legislative Meetings with our County Senator Reilly and Delegates Saab, McConkey and Malone.

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We have confirmed some important dates for you to calendar. Our County Executive, Steve Schuh, is scheduled as our guest speaker for the BCC General Meeting on Thursday, April 12th at 7:30 PM in the Cape St. Claire Clubhouse -1223 River Bay Road. Please invite your community members to join us at this meeting. CE Schuh will present a summary of achievements of his 1st term in office and then turn the meeting over to you-the attendees,- to ask questions, make comments and present recommendations for a more satisfactory second term.

We know that County approved concessions (variances/special exceptions /modifications) to developers–who are expanding their operations on the Broadneck,–are a source of contention for many of our property owners. The ongoing proliferation of town homes, cluster developments, and the new condo models of 2 over 2 have been strongly criticized at the County Exec ‘Listening Sessions’. We are bringing the question forward that asks our County leaders “when do we reach the point of overdevelopment”? How will the County improve their stormwater management system that has failed in so many communities? Are Critical Area laws being enforced and strong enough? These and other issues will be highlighted on 4/12/18 so please bring along your questions and Steve Schuh and his staff will respond.

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We have scheduled two “Candidates’ Nights” 

1) Before the Primary – on Thursday May 17th

2) Before the General Election –on Thursday October 4th . 

Both are scheduled for 7:30 PM in the Cape Clubhouse. We will send a final agenda for the event two weeks prior to the meeting dates but the evening will include a combination of 5 minute presentations by the candidates, with a Q and A session afterward and time for a ‘meet and greet’ over refreshments so you may have conversations directly with the candidates. The BCC is joining with members of the Cape St. Claire Improvement Association that will ensure a good turnout. We want valued dialogue and ‘meets & greets’ and questions for our candidates. The primary election ‘Candidates Night’ will include a large number of candidates who are running in D-33 so seating will be limited. Please come early for seating.

We have formed a team of Community Leaders to represent organizations from the Broadneck/Severna Park geographies. There will be 7 Small Area Plans in 2018-9, and the General Development Plan (GDP) is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019-20. Then Comprehensive Rezoning will follow to establish the rules for land use/zoning for the next (est) 8-10 years. Our team meets 2X/ month and includes 4 BCC BOD members, 1 GAN Exec, 2 GSPC BOD members, 1 APC BOD, 2 Broadneck leaders from the original SAP team and our former County Councilman-Dick Ladd. After our initial input for the SAP update, our Community leaders will meet with their membership and present our draft copy of the SAP for additional input and comments. We are progressing in our analysis and ahead of many organizations in the County as we work to assess the SAP value, accuracy, projections of the 2001 SAP. We will provide recommendations for key topics such as land use, transportation, utilities, maintenance, demographics, planning, maintenance et al. The topics are comprehensive and require a dedicated team to bring forward new recommendations based on history and achievement.

The BCC BOD is worked with the County Council, our members-(in particular the Amberley Community), to defeat Bill 13-18 which amends the County H2O and Sewer Plan to allow the Hogan Properties-LLC Better World Builders, to bring utilities into their 20+ acre property directly between McDonald’s on Whitehall Road and Amberley’s Plat 5 critical area property. 

The County voted in favor of bringing in the utilities so BWBs can bring in another fast food restaurant -(Chick Fil-A we hear!) and fill the property with impervious paved parking areas to allow the flow of toxic stormwater into the already damaged and fragile Whitehall Creek. We continue to pursue a remedy to this Critical Area (CA) outrage and shall hope for a successful resolution.

We have also supported Legislation from Senator Reilly and Delegate Malone to prevent E. Shore Commissioners from vetoing the recommendation for the selection of a southern crossing for the next Bay Bridge span that is under consideration by the MdTA in a Governor Hogan sponsored Bay Crossing Study. As members of the Bay Bridge Reconstruction Advisory Group, Bill Nevel (BCC) and I- (representatives for Western Shore Communities/Commuters) continue to press our Elected Officials to provide strong support against another Broadneck Bay Bridge span.

Please join us at our 4/12 BCC General Mtg to hear more about BCC initiatives.

Call me at 410-757-3231 for questions.

–Pat Lynch, President/Broadneck Council of Communities, Inc.