NEWS 
NEWS
11/4/11
"The most satisfying journey is one that is shared." That quote introduces and is the point behind a coffee table book of photographs from around the globe put together by the family of the late Tom Abercrombie, one of last swashbuckling, globe-trotting writer-photographers at National Geographic.
10/27/11
Please consider attending the Two Rivers Harvest Auction, November 6th, in Galesville to benefit the West/Rhode Riverkeeper, a great organization dedicated to protecting the environmental in south county.
9/7/11
Two of County Executive Leopold's vetoes to nix controversial zoning changes that would increase development in southern Anne Arundel County survived being overturned by the County Council. The first would have allowed commercial development to cross Central Avenue in Edgewater, a road dubbed by planners the "demarcation line" separating suburban development from rural areas. The second would have allowed commercial development at the Lothian Circle, which community members have long contended should remain as it is. The moves end a summer-long, contentious process to rezone southern Anne Arundel and the Annapolis area.
8/24/11
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold issued 16 vetoes yesterday afternoon to nix controversial zoning changes that would increase development in southern Anne Arundel County. The county councilman who pushed for those changes - at times over the vehement objections of his constituents - plans to muster votes to overturn most of them.
8/21/11
Foes of controversial zoning changes for southern Anne Arundel County are sharpening their weapons for the next battle. County Executive John R. Leopold's staff is drawing up veto documents, planning to unleash them no later than Wednesday. County Councilmen who objected to the changes - and asked for vetoes - are forming political strategies to avoid having those vetoes overturned. And a coalition of community groups frustrated that the changes violate planning rules are preparing a lawsuit unless enough of those zoning tweaks are vetoed.
8/14/11
For the scores of constituents up in arms, County Councilman Jerry Walker has crossed the line. Now, believing that Walker has violated a sacred boundary during the recent rezoning process, angry south county residents have called for a veto of his latest legislation and questioned how to recall him. Rallies are planned in advance of tomorrow night's council meeting, both from residents urging politicians to vote down the changes and from people who spent months persuading lawmakers to adopt them.
8/2/11
In spite of the concerns of professional planners, the County Council last night approved a dozen zoning changes that would intensify development in Anne Arundel County, clearing the way for a Fiat dealership in Edgewater and allowing commercial development to cross the "line of demarcation" designed to keep south county rural.
7/19/11
The owner of the three parcels of undeveloped land surrounding Lothian Circle, Franklin Chaney, wants to up-zone his land to C1 Commercial so he can sell it quickly or develop it himself.
It’s currently zoned Rural Agricultural (RA), like much of the land down here. Lothian Circle's purpose is to move traffic up and down Route 2 (Solomons Island Road).
Enter Councilman Jerry Walker (R-Districe 7). He doesn’t support the Small Area Plan. He wants to handle the re-zoning himself. He held three town meetings this spring to discuss up-zoning. He said he was there to listen. None of the members of the community present, other than the landowner, rose to support up-zoning Lothian Circle.
6/15/11
Environmentalist Mike Shay wants to preserve 112 undeveloped acres near the West River in Shady Side, even though he doesn't own it. Community activist Jim Doyle has rallied his Edgewater neighborhood to stop a car dealership from replacing a vacant police station. Both men are among scores expected to descend on the Planning Advisory Board tomorrow night for a new forum designed to inject transparency into the rezoning process.
6/1/11
For nearly nine years, neighbors and preservationists have fought the Crandall Cove development of 32 senior apartments on land given to James' nonprofit group, decrying the move to develop the heavily forested land in Churchton overlooking the waters of Deep Cove Creek. County land use officials have ruled that his project is inappropriate for the area, where County Executive John R. Leopold is trying to delay the consideration of broad zoning changes.
4/28/11
For 5 Years South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development, as shareholders of Severn Bank, have been attending and participating in the annual shareholders meeting.
As part owners in Severn Bank we are pushing management to change current funding practices that are unsustainable, both environmentally and economically.
On April 28th, our presentation to the Bank and Shareholders was filmed so that those in the Sustainable and Environmental Community Movement would have the opportunity to share in this moment, to help change the current practices of Severn Bank.
In this presentation you will see compelling pictures of lands saved by our organization, the practices of funding speculative developers, and the missed opportunities for sustainable investment in our community.
Your watching this short Video will help save one of the most important natural lands left intact in Anne Arundel County. The secret is out.
This video is posted at: http://vimeo.com/23135050
4/17/11
Allen Calhoun runs Ivy Neck Farm. As part of the ninth generation of family members to the farm in Harwood, he has always been environmentally conscious. He takes the same approach to raising beef. His 48 cows are entirely grass-fed, and they receive no antibodies and no growth hormones. Colhoun started selling beef directly to consumers about four years ago - before then, his business was all wholesale - and said there's an increased demand for locally grown, humanely produced meats.
2/24/11
Growth
Action Network (GAN)*
presents
A
Workshop on Comprehensive Re-Zoning in South County
Southern High School Media Center
Thursday,
March 10, 7 pm – 9 pm
Why this Matters:
Every ten years Anne Arundel County considers property owners
requests to change the zoning on their property. The process is
underway now. Forty+ requests for zoning changes in South County
(generally the area south of Rt 214, Central Ave to the Calvert Co line on the
South & the Patuxent River on the East) have been submitted. Some of
these changes could significantly change the rural character of South County.
The County Council is expected to introduce legislation on these changes (and potentially others) in May. Maps & descriptions are found at http://www.aacounty.org/PlanZone/LongRange/CompZone.cfm
Now is the time for citizens to examine changes that may affect your property values and your quality of life and tell the Council and County Executive what you think.
The Workshop will be conducted by highly experienced volunteers and is free. You will learn to:
- Identify and evaluate zoning
proposals that may impact you
- Effectively present your ideas to County officials
Questions contact:
Mike Lofton msl49@aol.com 410-867-3623
*Growth Action is a coalition of individuals, homeowners associations, civic and
environmental organizations formed in 2007 who work together to monitor growth
and development in Anne Arundel County.
12/16/10
Take a look at this aerial photo of the lush green forest beside Deep Cove Creek in southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Does this look like the right place to build a subdivision, with driveways and roofs replacing the trees beside this Chesapeake Bay tributary? Read the article from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Bay Daily.
11/19/10
Church to Build School Near Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary
Attorneys for Anne Arundel County and the Riverdale Baptist Church reached a $3.25 million settlement Thursday in a federal lawsuit claiming that county zoning laws infringed on the church's religious rights. The agreement, reached on the 12th day of lengthy jury trial, clears the way for the church to build a long-planned Baptist school on 57 acres it owns near the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Lothian.
10/14/10
The Maryland Department of the Environment held a hearing on a proposed 18-home Critical Area development in Churchton that opponents say will damage both the reptile and the waterway it is named after.
9/7/10
After years of wrangling permits and overcoming financing woes brought on by a bad economy, the local operators of the Deale FoodRite broke ground on their new store in Churchton on Friday.
5/4/10
Developers will not get discounts on the fees that pay for growth, ending a two-month County Council debate on whether to buttress the flagging construction industry by subsidizing the cost of development.
4/29/10
Mike Shay pens a Guest Column in The Capital: Everyone wants to have a healthy bay and most want to do their part, but for the most part our elected officials and the institutions that fund their campaigns have failed us. Our current leaders have not simply failed us, they have misled us.
4/20/10
After public outcry over extending discounts to developers, the County Council last night changed course. A "compromise" adopted unanimously will keep intact a scheduled increase to impact fees for now, but it will slow future increases as the building industry struggles to recover from the recession.
4/2/10
Tom Wisner 1930 - 2010
It was reported with great sadness that Tom Wisner has passed. Tom Wisner was recently honored by Maryland Governor O'Malley by naming the Education center at King’s Landing Park in Calvert County after him: Tom Wisner Hall at King’s Landing Park. Known as Bard of the Bay, Wisner raised awareness among children and adults for the past 40 years about the spirit, beauty, and human connection to the Chesapeake Bay through folk music. In 2002, the World Folk Music Association gave him the John Denver Award. Tom Wisner also hosted Chesapeake Country on local radio station WRYR-LP 97.5 FM.
3/1/10
Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.
Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators. As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising. Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.
2/25/10
Governor O'Malley Honors Tom Wisner
Governor Martin O’Malley and the Board of Public Works (BPW) today honored three Marylanders who devoted their lives to conservation and stewardship. At the request of the Governor, the Board acted to approve naming of Department of Natural Resources (DNR) properties in honor of folk-singer and educator Tom Wisner, Park Ranger Julie Scheiker, and long-timer DNR employee Gary Yoder.
The Education center at King’s Landing Park in Calvert County will be named the Tom Wisner Hall at King’s Landing Park. Known as Bard of the Bay, Wisner has been raising awareness among children and adults for the past 40 years about the spirit, beauty, and human connection to the Chesapeake Bay through folk music. In 2002, the World Folk Music Association gave him the John Denver Award.
“Tom was Maryland’s first official environmental educator, who has connected generations of school children to the Bay through music, art, and poetry, and whose footsteps thousands of us continue to follow. Tom is a true hero of the Bay,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Vice President for Education Don Baugh.
Tom Wisner hosts Chesapeake Country on WRYR.
SACRe
D News Archives
South Arundel Citizens for Responsible
Development (SACReD), a
non-profit, 501(c)(3)
organization whose mission is to work toward a
sustainable Southern Anne Arundel
County,
Maryland community through research, education, and action.
Please email SACReD for additional information.
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