The St. Mary’s Board of Commissioners is accepting public comment on a long-term land use plan that sets goals for recreation programs and land preservation in the county.
The Board received an overview Tuesday of the 100-plus page document that outlines the current state of land preservation activities and recreational amenities.
Recreation and Parks Director Phil Rollins explained the “2005 Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan” is required by the state as part of Program Open Space. It sets goals for parks and land preservation out to 2020 and is required to be renewed every six years.
Among the major goals for the next 16 years are adding near $46 million in recreational amenities, including: Charlotte Hall Park and recreation center, Myrtle Point Park, Leonardtown Landing Park, four neighborhood parks in the Lexington Park Development District, a 25 to 50-acre waterfront park in the Third Election District, completing a 28-mile “Three Notch Trail,” and many other park proposals.
The plan calls for realistic goal for preserving farmland and wooded acreage, referred to as “green infrastructure.”
The current county goal of preserving 60,000 acres of “active” farmland is unattainable without an investment of more than $100 million by 2020, the plan notes. Currently 10,509 acres are permanently preserved as farmland using several programs.
The call calls for creating an “overlay” agriculture district to designate tillable land for farming in future generations, even of the land is not currently “active” farmland.
Environmental consultant Clive Graham told the Board on Tuesday the county lost nearly 5,000 acres of farmland from 1997 to 2002, and in the same period the market value of farms in the county decreased near 47 percent from $20 million to $12 million.
“Those numbers are catastrophic,” said Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R-Golden Beach).
Graham said the transferable development rights (TDR) program needs to be reworked so the program preserves more land in the county’s rural preservation district (RPD).
“There are some well-meaning programs that are not functioning properly,” Graham said.
The TRD program involves developers purchasing development rights from land that will be permanently preserved and using the purchased TRD for residential and commercial development in other areas.
The plan suggests creating “receiving zone” for TDRs within the development districts. Currently the TDRs can be used to develop in the RPD, defeating the purpose of the land preservation mechanism.
After a question from Commissioner Tom Mattingly (D-Leonardtown), the Board learned that land being preserved using development “clustering” does not count as land preserved under state guidelines.
When a developer submits plans for a 100-acre tract, for example, 50 of the acres are developed and 50 are preserved using clustering, but the 50 preserved as not tallied by the state.
Commission President Tommy McKay (R-Hollywood) said he was displeased to learn the state would be counting the entire 100-acre example parcel as developed land, even though 50 percent is preserved against further development.
“That certainly is good to know, being that it’s a significant part of out (land preservation