(2/1) In a 4 to 1 decision, the Planning Commission denied a request from Rutters to abandon an approved Forest Conservation Plan for the station’s property the site.

The plan was created, during negotiations between Rutters and the Town, to protect trees along a feeder stream that flows into Flat Run. Both parties agreed to the conservation plan that was part of the final approved site plan.

Tim Bieber, representing Rutters, told the commissioners, that he felt, "the trees were a safety issue". Drivers, unaware of the station’s presence, he said, may be distracted when they catch a glimpse of the station and take their eyes off the road.

Rutters said that by removing the trees, it would allow drivers to see the station just after they pass Flat Run, giving them 300 more feet of make a decision on getting off Rt. 15 to get gas at the station.

Bieber’s suggestion drew a skeptical response from Commissioner Kevin Hagen who said that the additional 300 feet of visibility gained by cutting down the trees would have little impact for drivers going 60 mph, and that drivers would cover that distance in just over 3 seconds. "It made no sense," he said.

As part of their proposal, Rutters offered the Town $21,000 to be placed in the ‘Fee-in-Lieu’ account to be used by the town for forestation efforts elsewhere in the town.

Chris Jakubiak, the town’s Planning & Zoning advisor, told the commissioners that as the forest along the stream was a ‘priority forest,’ and that in accordance with a 2019 state law, Rutters must first attempt to buy ‘Forest Credits’ on a property where trees would be protected forever. If credits are not available within Frederick County, Rutters would next need to try to plant other trees on their property to replace the trees removed. Only when those two options failed could the town consider the "Fee-in-Lieu’" option.

Commissioner Long said that as far as he was concerned, that visibility to the station from Rt. 15 was not relevant, noting that the station was packed when he had visited it that day.

Long continued, stating he was not in favor of cutting down trees, especially mature trees, along a stream, given that the "town had spent the last few years planting thousands of trees, and that the removal of the tress goes against the Town’s environmental philosophy."

Long went on to point out that the removal of the trees would add to the runoff into the Chesapeake Bay, something that is at the very heart of a Forest Conservation Plan.

In response to Long’s concern over runoff, Bieber said that it was not their intention "to remove the stumps of the trees, but just the trees themselves," stating that it’s the stumps and roots that hold the soil in place along the stream. Bieber claimed that if Rutters did not take the trees down, weather would.

While the commissioners were adamant about any removal of the tress, they expressed sympathy with the inability of Rutters to install their typical highway sign and expressed interest in revisiting the town’s sign ordnance to rectify the situation.

In commenting why he was the lone dissenting voce, commissioner Joe Ritz said: "I voted no being that at the November 7th town meeting, the Town Council, in a 4-1 vote, approved the request to revoke this easement and to send it back to the Planning Commission for final determination. As the Council’s liaison to the Planning Commission, I felt it necessary to voice the majority opinion of the board in this matter."