The Growth Debate

These are some of the topics that are being discussed in the "We Draw the Line" forum, please go there to contribute to the debate.

Infrastructure and Community Facilities:
Are you satisfied with the community facilities available in your region?

Cultural and Historical Features:
Are there historical properties, cultural resources or important features that are getting “lost” in your region, hidden by development or not properly integrated into the community as you see fit?

Agricultural Preservation: Read the "Snapshot of agriculture in Frederick County" and the "Priority Preservatiopn documents".
— Do you consider agriculture an important part of Frederick County?
— If so, do you have ideas on how to promote and sustain it?
— Do you have opinions on priority preservation area for Frederick County?

Environmental Features:
— Are there environmental features that need support for protection?
— Is there stream and stream bank damage occurring in your area (cows in the streams, clearing along water courses)?
— Do you have suggestions for improving the situation?

Growth Management:
— Does the municipal growth boundary in your region concern you?
— Considering current school capacity and level of service on important intersections in your region, if the current growth boundary were filled in by residential development would there be overcrowding of your schools (see school capacity information here, page 24 and 25).
— Has water availability been adequately considered in the past? If not, why not and what do you recommend to change that (read municipal water resource issues here).
— Are public water and sewer lines planned to go to areas (see dotted line on water and sewer map) where the zoning is currently agriculture?

Transporation:
— Is there a plan to have multi-modal transportation in your area?  If so, is it adequate?  If so, are you comfortable with the timeframe for implementation?  If not, what should be done to improve it?

Land Use Plan:
— Do you have questions or ideas about the land uses designated for your region (look at land use map)?
— Do you have questions or ideas about the land use designations used in the county planning process?

Zoning Map and Ordinances:
— What is your opinion of the ongoing development in your region with respect to the size and density?
— Are you concerned with some of the exemptions given to the resource conservation (RC) and agricultural (AG) zoning? (see last two pages of of this document).
— What is your opinion of the design of construction occurring in your region?  Is it watershed friendly (low impact development)?  Does it represent the “green” models or  “New Urbanism” ideas Should it?  Do you have suggestions or recommendations on this issue?