Mr. Sikes’s editorial in the June 13 Talbot Spy takes a gentlemanly, somewhat academic approach to suggest that people of Talbot County should consider “what is the character of our county” and that we might take it easy during an intermission. Well, I believe there is ample evidence that a growing number of local residents, now in the hundreds, are already convinced that the Lakeside development actively threatens major adverse impact on the quality of life in Talbot County.
The recent action of MDE to change maps that may influence further Lakeside development offers more than a simple breathing spell. More and more citizens hereabouts already look forward and see an opportunity to be active in righting wrongs previously inflicted on Talbot County by inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, County Council actions on the matter. The abundant documentation available from Talbot Integrity Project reports provides a clear history of that.
Mr. Sikes recommends a grading system might be useful to provide a measure of whether Talbot County residents care about their quality of life. Wouldn’t it be interesting to ask the Lakeside developers to offer up a grading system of the effects from what they propose on “. . . education, safety, recreation, traffic…”
Years ago I lived in a quiet, rural suburb of Seattle when development of new residential projects, virtually identical to several now being imposed on Talbot County, began creeping into the region without causing much disturbance. But suddenly development accelerated and residents began to recognize and wake up to the threat of major change coming closer. It turned out that late mobilization to defend quality of life is a great example of the very true aphorism, “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” It’s simply not possible to repair damage caused by inappropriate development after the fact.
I urge anyone concerned about Lakeside development fulfilling its stated goal of thousands of new houses take advantage of the “intermission” to become active promptly while time is an asset. Now is the opportunity to actively monitor upcoming further review of Lakeside advances and to make your opinion about it known emphatically to Talbot County Council members.
Jocke Beebe
Oxford
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