A motion to move forward on the 2012 Charles County Comprehensive Plan was defeated in Monday night’s meeting of the Charles County Planning Commission. Some planners wanted to move forward with getting funding for studies to be done on the merged scenario proposal.
Funding for additional studies would have to be approved by the county commissioners.
Multiple members of the commission said they had concerns about moving forward too quickly and wanted input from the county commissioners during an upcoming joint session before taking future action. In a previous discussion, Charles County Planning Commission Chairman Courtney Edmonds said he felt some members were holding up the process.
During Monday night’s meeting, Edmonds spoke about comments from the online website savelandvalues.com in regards to downsizing in the current merged scenario proposal decreasing property values, increasing taxes and increasing crime rates.
“I remember the same accusations being thrown around in Columbus when people of my skin tone started moving in,” Edmonds said, saying they’ve created boogeymen. “Boogeyman one, downzoning will increase your taxes. Boogeyman two, downzoning will decrease property values and increase crime.”
In a December 15, 2011 public hearing over the comprehensive plan, environmentalists and the pro-business community both expressed concerns that the plan was heavily favored against them. Some in the pro-business community felt that it was leaned too much in favor of the environmentalists and the environmentalists were concerned about it allowing too much growth in Waldorf, St. Charles, Bryan’s Road and La Plata.
The merged scenarios are on the Charles County Comprehensive Plan webpage at: http://www.charlescountyplan.org/
