May 22, 2002
The
Honorable James M. Harkins
Harford
County
220 South Main Street
Bel
Air
,
MD
21014
Dear Mr. Harkins:
Your Planning and Zoning Department invited the Baltimore Regional Partnership
to attend a public hearing held earlier this year at
Joppatowne
High School
on the Joppa/Joppatowne Community Plan. We appreciate the opportunity to
comment on the latest step in
Harford
County
’s ambitious efforts to plan proactively for its future.
Overall, we think that the Plan, if adopted and followed by appropriate zoning
changes, has the potential to make Joppatowne a more attractive and enjoyable
place to live and to help all of Harford County by providing new opportunities
for economic development. We are concerned, however, that the Plan does not
envision a future where the rural areas in Joppa will see their quality of life
similarly increased.
The Joppa/Joppatowne Community Plan, if implemented as envisioned, would
represent a significant step forward in ensuring that Joppatowne remains a
desirable place to live. Already,
Harford
County
’s earlier planning work in
Edgewood
has aided that community in securing valuable state funds. The Draft Plan’s
forward-thinking ideas, if implemented appropriately and shaped by continued
community involvement, will yield similarly positive results for Joppatowne.
Specific examples of these forward-thinking ideas include:
• the Joppa-Magnolia Planned
Employment District, which could create a new walkable, high-quality office
district that minimizes economic development costs to the County and State
through using current transportation infrastructure. We encourage the County to
further develop this concept and to draft more concrete zoning proposals, so
that the community can review a clearer definition of this concept. We also
encourage the County to ensure that traffic created by such a district be
funneled as directly as possible to major roads such as U.S. 40 and I-95;
• the designation of the Joppatowne Center
District as a mixed-use center for the community, allowing antiquated shopping
areas to be redeveloped into viable community hubs. We encourage continued
community involvement in shaping the character of such development;
• emphasis on
improving transportation choices, through increased bus service and a stellar
network of bicycle paths and lanes.
We support continued development, and,
assuming that development is along appropriate lines, eventual implementation,
of these elements of the Plan, through a combination of changes to zoning and
building codes, new incentives, and County and State spending on transportation.
We do not believe that a solely incentive-based, or overlay, approach will
adequately encourage the kinds of development that the plan envisions because
developers need guarantees that surrounding properties will support the design
and use of their property if they are to build high-quality, walkable projects.
Our major concern with the plan as currently
drafted is that it does not have the same visionary new ideas for the rural
Joppa area as it does for Joppatowne. As such, the Plan is likely to have little
impact on the problems currently facing the rural Joppa community. The current
agricultural zoning designation, at one house per ten acres, with denser
development allowed through the County’s overly permissive family conveyance
law, does not effectively maintain an agricultural community in Joppa, and
places great strain on public facilities such as roads and schools by putting
development where infrastructure does not exist to support it. The current
situation undermines the wise principles set forth by
Harford
County
in establishing its Development Envelope – development should be concentrated
where services are available, and rural lands should be preserved for
generations to come.
A visionary approach to preserving the rural
character of Joppa is needed. This approach should include tools such as
restoring family conveyance laws to their original limited purposes, new design
standards that are tailored to the rural nature of Joppa, and a reconsideration
of whether one house per ten acre zoning is adequate for agricultural zones.
Perhaps the most potent tool would be transfer of development rights from the
rural area to areas designated for growth in the Draft Plan, such as the
Joppa-Magnolia Planned Employment District. This type of transfer of development
rights would be more effective than a transfer of development rights into a
focused area within rural Joppa, because infrastructure simply does not exist
anywhere outside of the Development Envelope that could support denser
development.
We look forward to reviewing the final draft
of this plan and future associated zoning changes, and encourage you to continue
to the engage the community and our organization as the plan develops. We are
available to help design new tools for preserving rural Joppa and to support and
further develop the strong concepts that this plan has already laid out to make
Joppatowne a stronger community. We applaud
Harford
County
’s continued initiative to develop visionary planning processes that engage
citizens to envision a better future for their communities. We encourage you to
continue to expand opportunities for citizen education and involvement as this
planning process and other planning processes move forward.
Sincerely,
Dan Pontious
Director
cc:
Joe Kocy, Director, Planning and Zoning,
Harford
County
Joan Morrissey Ward, Planning and Zoning,
Harford
County
Harford
County Council
Gloria
Moon, Little Gunpowder Improvement Association
