New
Study Documents Construction that Harms the Chesapeake Bay
Berlin
– Three environmental organizations gathered at Turville Creek near Berlin today to present
a new report on failures of Maryland’s
landmark law intended to limit development along the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coastal
Bays. The Critical Area Act restricts construction
within 1000 feet of the bays, but the groups contend that the law is poorly
enforced and contains deficiencies that allow development that harms water
quality and wildlife habitat.
The report, Unprotected
Shoreline: Failures in Limiting Development along the Chesapeake and Coastal
Bays, examines seven case studies of developments that were allowed to
proceed despite being inconsistent with the intent of the law. Environment
Maryland Research
& Policy Center,
Assateague Coastal Trust, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation discussed the
findings in the report and recommended reforms to the law.
“The law is clearly not working as it was intended if
developments like these are allowed to get built,” said Jessi Bedell, field
organizer for Environment
Maryland Research
& Policy Center. “Some of these cases make a joke out of our
efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay and the Coastal Bays.”
Profiled in the report were homes, subdivisions and a
resort. The developments are located on
the Eastern Shore, in Southern
Maryland, and in Anne
Arundel County.
In some of the cases chronicle in the report, developers
were arbitrarily granted exemptions from the law. The GlenRiddle development across the creek
from the gathering this morning is a resort community with 600 homes and two
golf courses, much of which is on environmentally sensitive land. The Villages at Swann Point in Charles County will destroy a blue heron nesting
site and 203 acres of forested bird habitat.
”This past summer saw the largest outbreaks of algae blooms
in our Coastal Bays in recent history,” commented Assateague Coastkeeper Kathy
Phillips. “Creeks and canals clogged
with thick mats of algae are indicative of nutrient rich waters, exacerbated by
loss of buffers along our waterways that naturally filter harmful run-off.”
Some of the abuses of the Critical Area Act came after
developers pressed courts to reinterpret the law. Richard Roeser knew the implications of the
law when he purchased property in Anne
Arundel County,
but later claimed that enforcement of the law was an undue burden. Construction at the Belvoir Farms subdivision
near Crownsville got approval from the courts when the Critical Area Commission
attempted to deny permission.
“The 25-year old law was passed with the best of intentions,
but it clearly hasn’t kept pace with development,” said Erik Fisher, a planner
with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “The
law must provide for meaningful enforcement that is more than just the cost of
doing business.”
The report also documents a case in Anne Arundel
County where a developer
knowingly violated the law but was not significantly penalized. Daryl Wagner was familiar with legal
restrictions as the developer of other properties in the area, but built a
6,000-square-foot house on an island in the Magothy River
without permits, then asked county officials to modify maps and grant
permission to build after the fact.
Some controversial developments have been blocked, but
only after tremendous public outcry and painful legal wrangling. A hunting lodge in Wicomico County
will be torn down due to flagrant violations, but it took seven years in court
and may take decades for environmental conditions to fully recover. The proposed Four Seasons Resort on Kent Island
was denied a wetlands permit after being approved by the Critical Area
Commission, but that permit denial is now on appeal.
