We Make It News
Audio & video reports in Charles County, Maryland
Posted 1/10/11
Coming soon:
A mega-development project
in Port Tobacco?
-- If it's approved by the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners, an "Environmental Recovery Zone" may give the owner of 1,000 acres near the PT River the right to build up to 1,500 homes -- as part of their plan, the developer says they will connect the "Riviera" neighborhood to a wastewater treatment plant --
Audio files from the Jan. 4 Planning Commission
subcommittee meeting:
LISTEN to Part 1 from the meeting
(42 min. 51 sec.)
LISTEN to Part 2 from the meeting
(53 min. 26 sec.)
LISTEN to Part 3 from the meeting
(30 min. 11 sec.)
Soundbites from the meeting:
LISTEN to Debra Z. Murphey, journalist and Port Tobacco resident, asking about the pollution that will come from 1,500 new homes on the Port Tobacco River
(1 min. 45 sec.)
LISTEN to Debra Z. Murphey asking whether alternatives to a wastewater treatment plant for "Riviera" are being looked at by the Planning Commission subcommittee
(1 min. 36 sec.)
LISTEN to Debra Z. Murphey asking again about whether alternatives to a wastewater treatment plant for "Riviera" are being studied
(2 min. 24 sec.)
LISTEN to Debra Z. Murphey going toe-to-toe with Planning Commission Chairman Lou Grasso
(2 min. 16 sec.)
LISTEN to Steven Ball, Director of Planning &
Growth Management, saying the current 1 house per 3 acre rule for rural conservation in Port Tobacco would be changed if the Environmental Recovery Zone is approved
(31 sec.)
LISTEN to Steven Ball discussing whether the
Environmental Recovery Zone will be in conflict
with the county's comprehensive plan process
(21 sec.)
LISTEN to Steven Ball saying that an
Environmental Recovery Zone would create a new development district in the county
(14 sec.)
LISTEN to Maury Tobin, Editor of WeMakeItNews.com, asking whether this has
ever been done anywhere in the state of Maryland
(2 min. 14 sec.)
LISTEN to Lou Grasso, Planning Commission Chairman, who says review of the Environmental Recovery Zone should move forward separately from the comprehensive plan process
(37 sec.)
Former elected official Danny Mayer, who is a consultant for a landowner in Port Tobacco, says: "This isn't going to cure the Port Tobacco River watershed . . ."
During a recent visit to Charles County by Attorney General Doug Gansler, the Port Tobacco River Conservancy touted the developer's controversial plan.
