Throughout Harford County, one sees the impact of the Glassman-Boniface Administration’s previous eight years in control. The Development Envelope has been hugely expanded. Legislation was proposed by them and passed with a majority of the previous County Councils to ease the way for more and more development. The continuous and poorly planned building has created alarm and anger.
As we sit idling in our cars creeping along the highways, we read the various developers’ traffic studies that tell us that their shiny new apartment buildings will not cause any problems except maybe a minor delay at an intersection. They say they will “fix” that.
Our hospital is full. Emergency room waits can be 10 or 12 hours long or we are sent elsewhere. Our health is not a consideration for the county when building more residences and adding more people. It is simply not in the Zoning Code as a requirement for sufficiency.
Prior legislation also allowed school capacities to be raised where over 100% capacity is “fine” for everyone except students, teachers and parents. It also allowed for certain developments to be excused from the count of additional students altogether.
Our rivers run with mud thanks to the previous administration’s zoning changes. Our forests are being eliminated by the direction given to the Planning & Zoning Department to approve waivers to cut our prime specimen trees without a reason given. Determinations were made that allowed illegal buildings. Interpretations or lack of them ignored legislated plans like the Green Infrastructure Plan, which allowed Abingdon Woods clear cuts and grading.
There reeks a general aroma of disregard for those who live here, be they animal, plants, earth or air. We should not be at the mercy of ill-planned growth perpetrated by past, poorly designed administrative decisions.
On the positive side, I am heartened by recent legislation from the Cassilly administration, passed by a majority of the current County Council. May they continue the good work.
That still leaves the residual of approvals squeezing our resources. We need a building moratorium to stop the pipeline of new residential building until we can safely provide for those of us who live here now and new people. More building to bring in more money to fix traffic, safety, schools, etc. is not the answer. It’s a Ponzi scheme. Let’s stop and take a breather.
Gloria Moon, Joppa
