You just can’t vote a yard sign into law.
Accordingly, this morning The Talbot Integrity Project (“TIP”) sent to all members of the new, incoming County Council a formal request that the Council consider, and adopt, two specific Resolutions that will implement the “Reset Lakeside” initiative advocated by TIP in the recent campaign.
As sponsor of the “reset” movement, it has been TIP’s responsibility to come forward with specific language that will accomplish the goals embodied in that catchphrase, so Talbot County can move from a gross idea to action. Those goals are two in number, and were presented in an outline linked to an article in the Talbot Spy on September 28th.
First, the new County Council can reverse a position taken last March, and confirm that it is the Planning Commission that has exclusive authority to make decisions about any project’s consistency with our Comprehensive Plan. That is the law.
Second, since the Planning Commission last year determined that Lakeside is NOT consistent with the Talbot County Comprehensive Plan, Lakeside must be paused in place, inviting the developer to bring it back anew for proper consideration by the Planning Commission and the Council before approval. And for the first time, they—and the citizens in public hearing—can address a litany of issues such as schools, taxes, traffic, public safety and the impact on the County’s strained healthcare capacity.
All of these are important issues, and without a “reset,” County taxpayers, and not the developer, will be the ones dealing with and paying for these aspects of uncontrolled growth. Perhaps some changes are in order.
The legislation proposed by TIP consists of two Resolutions accessible by these links: the main “Reset Resolution” (Exhibits here), and a second Resolution that simply accommodates certain non-controversial improvements to the Trappe water system that were also contained in the original Resolution 281 before it was rescinded.
Voters elected three candidates to the Council that TIP endorsed: Pete Lesher, Keasha Haythe, and Lynn Mielke. At the League of Women Voters/CBF Candidate Forum, all these candidates (and other candidates too) said that they would support the Reset Lakeside effort outlined in the Spy that very day.
TIP hopes that, on thoughtful consideration, all new Council members will act responsibly and adopt this legislation. And not just because the call to “Reset Lakeside” was so strongly supported by voters in the recent election, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Dan Watson
Talbot Integrity Project – Easton
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