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Generals Highway Council of Community Associations – PO Box 14 Crownsville, MD 21032
P.O. Box 14 Crownsville, MD 21032
A brief message…a power outage necessitated the cancellation of our May meeting, which was to have highlighted Sen. Ed Reilly. He refuses to blame his political opponents for the failure, and has agreed to address us at the August meeting.
Our next meeting is June 8, at which time Councilman Jamie Benoit and Brenda Reiber, of County Executive John Leopold’s office will update GHCCA on the latest goings on from the County’s legislative and executive fronts.
Our meeting place is the same — the School House behind Historic Baldwin Hall at the intersection of Millersville Road and Generals Highway.
I will not be at the June meeting, as my wife Carole and I, along with our Standard Poodle Daisy will be aboard “Gatsby” (yes, we do like Fitzgerald) en route to North Carolina. I look forward to seeing you all for the July meeting.
Addition to Earlier Post
SPECIAL ADDITION:
A flood of emails has pointed out that the recent newsletter, in congratulating District 6 Councilman Ferrar, omitted recognition of the role played by Senior General’s Highway Councilman, Jamie Benoit, District 4. Their districts represent Crownsville.
This omission was purely unintentional. Jamie has been a stalwart friend of and effective legislator for the GH corridor, who wisely opposed bill 12-10 from the outset.
We are grateful for his efforts on behalf of his constituents.
Richard Falk
President GHCCA
May, 2010
District 6 Councilman, Chuck Ferrar has done his homework! New to the Council, Chuck was a co-sponsor for Bill 12-10, which would have postponed the mandated imposition of impact fees in an attempt to stimulate the building industry. Faced with a barrage of constituent dissatisfaction, Chuck introduced a compromise amendment, which, in essence, would have shortened the phase-in period. The amendment was passed 7-0 by the Council. This was still unsatisfactory to many citizens, who felt the taxpayer should not shoulder the burden of impact fees, in effect subsidizing developers. Chuck, consulted with experts, and coming to appreciate that impact fees do not in fact stifle jobs and construction, changed his vote. Bill 12-10 was defeated 4-3 on Monday May 3. Impact fees will be imposed as originally passed in 2008.
In the opinion of many, including yours truly, Councilman Ferrar (Chuck) showed true leadership on this contentious issue, being unafraid to realize and correct an error, and convince his colleagues to follow his lead. We are fortunate to have Chuck as one of the councilmen representing the GH corridor.
The applications for Comprehensive rezoning have been made public by the office of Planning and Zoning, available on the County website
http://www.aacounty.org/PlanZone/LongRange/CompZone.cfm
On this site you can locate the applications on a map of the County, click on one of interest, and get pretty complete information about the application.
This should make the job of our Land Use committee much easier. The committee, consisting of Don Yeskey (chair), Mark Zablotny, Ken Hatch, Neil Litzau, John Fischer, Nick Demos and yours truly met last week to go over our protocols. The committee will evaluate the applications, meet with the applicants if they so desire, and present the findings to the membership at the monthly meetings, where a decision will be made to support or oppose the request.
Special Speaker at our meeting at 7:30 PM, on Tuesday, May 11 will be Maryland Senator Ed Reilly, District 33, who will fill us in on the accomplishments of the recently completed legislative session. Read up on it! Ask questions! Be sure to attend!
Richard Falk
President GHCCA
Due to the conditions of the roads and the impending snowfall, tonight’s meeting of the Generals Highway Council of Community Associations is canceled. Stay warms.
Richard Falk, President GHCCA
GENERAL’S HIGHWAY COUNCIL OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
P.O. Box 14 Crownsville, MD 21032
February 2010: Big News for the General’s Highway Corridor! The State of Maryland has reconsidered its disposition of the Crownsville Hospital site and is now talking about letting the County assume control. I received a call from County Executive Leopold last week, advising me of this change in direction, and expressing his strong feeling that the County should determine the destiny of the property. He promised to keep GHCCA in the loop regarding any new developments.
Vice president Zablotny (aka zman) and I met recently with Councilman Chuck Ferrar to discuss several issues of concern, including rezoning applications. I told him of my frustrations with bypassing the vetting process by introducing rezoning requests as a last minute amendment. Although sympathetic, he felt this was a long-established practice and not likely to be changed. After working myself up on this matter and speaking to Ann Fligsten of the Growth Action Network, I wrote a GHCCA letter to the editor of the Capital critical of this legislative leger de main. Growth Action will follow up with a letter to each councilman, signed by member organizations including GHCCA. Keep your eyes peeled for the Capital letter. I don’t honestly know if it will effect any change, but it will bring it to the attention of the electorate, which, like chicken soup, wouldn’t hurt.
At a recent meeting, the executive committee proposed some new directions for GHCCA, including the formation of 4 standing committees:
- Membership – self explanatory
- Land use – monitor rezoning requests and hearings
- Legislative – follow proposed legislation of concern
- Compliance – check code violations, checks with Inspections & permits
Interested in serving on any of these? Let us know.
Variances? Special exceptions? Zoning reclassification requests? Our next guest has heard them all. In keeping with our practice of bringing County and State leaders to have a dialog with members of the Council, it is my pleasure to announce that attorney Douglas Clark Hollmann, the County Administrative Hearings Officer, and long time resident of the General’s Highway Corridor, will be at our next meeting. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about this office that often represents the first interface between the citizen and County bureaucracy.
2010 DUES due! Community Ass’n $100. Individual $20. Mail to the above address.
Next meeting – 7:30 Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Schoolhouse behind Historic Baldwin Hall.
Richard Falk, President
GHCCA members:
The meeting with Planning and Zoning originally scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on January 26 in the Chesapeake Room of the County offices on Riva Road has been postponed 1 week. It will now be held on February 2.
GHCCA Minutes November 10, 2009
Richard Falk, President; Steve Kratzer, Secretary
Brenda Reiber of the County Executive’s office had some announcements regarding environmental conservation. Low-phosphate fertilizer is now being used for all county landscaping projects in order to reduce algae growth in our waterways; homeowners are advised to consider this option as well. 630 acres in the Bacon Ridge portion of the former Crownsville Hospital site that the county has taken over are now covered by a conservation easement. The farmers market at Harry Truman Pkwy will be open on Saturdays through Dec. 19, and the market at Annapolis Mall will be open on Sundays through Dec. 31.
On Nov. 10 Richard Falk represented GHCCA in the first community meeting, with Planning and Zoning director Larry Tom. This meeting included a review of the subdivision process presented by Larry Tom’s assistant Chris Soldano; the Comprehensive Rezoning process was also discussed. So far, about 85 rezoning requests are known, but many more are expected. These requests will be reviewed by P&Z, go through the Planning Advisory Board, and then the County Council will make the final decisions. These meetings, to be held bimonthly, are open to the public.
There is a large sign for an insurance company mounted on a truck that is parked on residential-zoned private property at the intersection with Old Generals Highway. The legal status of this sign is uncertain, because it might be allowed to remain on display as a “temporary” sign, but the issue is still being studied. A letter requesting its removal was sent by GHCCA to the owner of the insurance agency.
General Assembly Delegate James King discussed his efforts to draft legislation covering the types of offenders sent to residential substance abuse treatment centers such as Second Genesis. These centers fill a need, because jails are overcrowded and a minimum-security facility like Second Genesis is sometimes the most appropriate choice, but violent sex offenders should not be sent there. Del. King expects to have the framework for a bill in about three weeks. Don Yeskey suggested that a “three strikes” provision might be appropriate, and Del. King said this is a good idea, because the States Attorney says that these treatment programs work well only for first offenders. Del. King also suggests that perhaps we should stop accepting offenders from other counties.
Don Yeskey mentioned that Kaufman’s Restaurant is sponsoring “Giving Back nights” by which diners can designate that 10% of their bill goes to a charity of the diners’ choice. If you eat at Kaufman’s on any Wednesday night, you can fill out a card and specify that 10% of your bill goes to GHCCA.
Mark Zablotny attended a meeting of the Crownsville Community Service Center and was appointed to its Board of Directors. This group wants to set up a baseball field, an orchard and other amenities on the Crownsville Hospital site.
The meeting was then adjourned.
Applicants for 6th District Seat
Three applicants for the seat on the County Council, vacated when Josh Cohen was sworn in as Mayor of Annapolis asked if they could attend the December GHCCA meeting . Accordingly, on Tuesday December 8, Mike Miller, Lisa Hillman and Billy Moulden addressed approximately 30 individuals representing 12 community associations and individuals from the General’s Highway Corridor. Each was given the opportunity to introduce himself to the group, and state why each felt they were best suited for the position.
All three individuals were then given five minutes to answer each of four questions, covering legislative priorities for District 6, thoughts on comprehensive rezoning, most pressing environmental concern, and their thoughts on new growth in the District. Their thoughts on slots in Arundel Mills Mall was discussed (all were generally in favor), This is of particular interest, as the appointee’s first session, on December 21 will involve voting on this issue. Questions were then asked by the audience.
The meeting, in accordance with usual GHCCA protocol lasted 1.5 hours, and was very well received by both attendees (including Senator Ed Reilly) and the applicants, who came away with significant input from the group. They with other applicants, will appear before the County Council on December 17th, at which time they will present their credentials and answer questions from the council members. At that meeting, the Council will then select the individual to fill the remainder of the term.
GENERAL’S HIGHWAY COUNCIL OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
Unfettered vistas: The mobile billboard overlooking “The Highway” at the north junction with Old General’s Highway has now been absent for 2 weeks. Hopefully it will not return. We should continue to document and direct County attention to other such violations.
County Councilman District 6:
The election of Josh Cohen as Mayor of Annapolis leaves district 6 with a vacant seat on the County Council. This position will be filled by a selection of the other councilmembers until the election is held in November. Although rumors abound of individuals interested in the position, few have formally declared their intentions. Two have contacted GHCCA and requested a meeting to introduce themselves to our group.
Michael G. Miller, County resident, real estate investor and commercial property owner, co-founder of Anne Arundel County for Obama.
Lisa Hillman, Sr. vice president and Chief Development Officer of the Anne Arundel Health System.
It will be of mutual benefit for the candidates to introduce themselves to GHCCA, and present their views as well as hear what our expectations are of our representatives.
I encourage you to attend the meeting, and bring friends and neighbors as
The contest begins.
As a 501(c)(4) organization GHCCA is permitted to take a stance on political elections, but it is premature to do so at this early juncture in the District 6 electoral process,
As other candidates declare themselves, they will be welcome to address GHCCA as well.
Next GHCCA meeting:
7:30 Tuesday, December 8
Schoolhouse behind Historic Baldwin Hall.
Agenda:
County Executive’s Office – Brenda Reiber, Report of the recent County Council meeting; Growth Action Network; Crownsville Hospital property.
Guests: Lisa Hillman, Michael G. Miller, County Council Hopefuls
See you then:
Richard Falk
President, GHCCA
Read the minutes of the last meeting. Continue reading Next GHCCA Meeting – December 8 An Invitation from Pres. Falk
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