(1/29) The majority of the January 26th Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission meeting was spent reflecting upon the outcome of the Simmers Farm referendum results and what the P&Z commission could have done differently to prevent the need for such action, or actions they should take in the future to prevent the need for another referendum.
The P&Z Commission discussed holding a Workshop for all interested parties, to get their input on what they see as the future path for the growth of Thurmont and what they would like the P&Z Commission to look for. "It will give the Board input on where the citizens of Thurmont want things to go," said P&Z Chairman Cubbedge
Commissioner Randy Waesche said "you can’t go wrong by doing something like that [the workshop]." He went on to say that he was surprised at the lack of pubic comments on the Simmers Farm annexation as it worked its way through the P&Z process. "Yes, we were preoccupied with COVID," Waesche said, "but still, the lack of public involvement nagged at me – then it blew up at the end."
Cubbedge said the lack of input from the pubic on the plans for the Simmers Farm development, resulted in the Commission’s inability to give helpful input to the developer.
Cubbedge noted that as the major issues involved in the referendum were related to housing density, traffic &c., and that the opponents of the annexation stated they were not aware of the actions involved in the development of the Town’s Master Plan," the issue that needed to be addressed was how the town communicated changes to the Town Master Plan to the public. "The town needs to fix that," he said.
Commissioner Bryant Despeaux questioned if the Board felt that they didn’t get enough pubic input on the Town’s Master Plan because of COVID, should they consider revisiting it – "there is no reason we have to wait another 10 years to revise the Master Plan – we can do a ‘fast’ Master Plan."
Cubbedge pondered the question of: "if a developer came to the Commission with a R-5 zoned lot and wanted to do max housing, was the Board duty bound to simply follow its procedures and allow it, or should it advise the developer on a density more suitable to the current residents’ view of development?"
"Is our job to ‘open a window for the developer that they may not see’, and by doing so, create a more conducive environment?" He asked.
Waesche expressed concern that "the zoning to R-5 of the in-town portion of Simmers Farm was predicated upon the rest of the farm being annexed," and without the annexation was not sure the current R-5 zoning was a good idea. Waesche then went on to ask if the P&Z commission was legally bound to follow the Town’s Master Plan, or could they deviate from it?
Picking up on Waesche’s theme, Commissioner Viktor Kraenbring asked if there is any recourse to the remaining portion of Simmers Farm being developed R-5? Town staff said no, that when someone buys a property, the price of that property was based upon the zoning.
Town staff said that while the P&Z Commission was legally obligated to allow a developer to do what they wanted as long as they meet all the requirements of the Town Master Plan, the Board should be able to give input and feedback to the applicant.
Despeaux suggested that for the next revision of the Town’s Master Plan the town send out informational packages to all town residents to inform them about what goes into updating a Master Plan. "We need to give the average citizen an idea of what goes into a Master Plan. It’s our job to educate the public."
The P&Z Commission will continue to discuss the possibility of holding a future workshop on these topics.
