Citizens hammer Chaney plan

Hughesville rezoning now in hands of commissioners

Friday, June 27, 2008

More than 30 residents of Hughesville stood up to the microphone in the auditorium of the county government building in La Plata to oppose the rezoning.

The public hearing was for the benefit of the Charles County commissioners, who must decide in the coming month whether to side with the ruling of the planning commission and grant the zoning change.

Or they could choose to deny the change and stick by a development plan created by Hughesville residents for their village.

Chaney has asked the commissioners to rezone the property from agricultural conservation to heavy industrial, a zone usually reserved for densely developed areas such as Waldorf.

Wearing green T-shirts and waving signs, the members of the Preserve Hughesville group showed up in force. Many of the group’s members helped develop the village’s current redevelopment plan, which has been adopted by the commissioners and does not envision any industrial component.

‘‘This rezoning request is not consistent with the 2006 comprehensive plan or the Hughesville plan,” testified Sharon Moore. ‘‘Heavy industrial zoning does not belong at the gateway of the village.”

The rationale for the zoning, Chaney said, is that the character of Hughesville has been fundamentally changed by the rezoning of the Everything Amish shed dealership, the construction of the Harley-Davidson dealership, increased traffic on routes 5 and 231 and the addition of the Route 5 bypass. The bypass has routed traffic outside the village center, negatively impacting several small businesses.

But Chaney’s observed changes do not necessarily justify the rezoning, testified Geoffrey Heath, adding that the rezoning application is ‘‘infected throughout” with illogic.

‘‘There needs to be some rational relationship between the change in the neighborhood and the change in the zoning,” Heath said. ‘‘There is no relationship whatsoever between the two.”

‘‘How can Hughesville Harley-Davidson be called an ‘unanticipated change’ when the zoning was already there?” asked Donna Cave.

Mike Rose stated that, if Chaney’s rationale for rezoning is applied, ‘‘we might as well rezone all the property” on Route 5.

Chaney Enterprises has further suggested that the 1992 comprehensive rezoning of Hughesville was a mistake, not leaving enough room for business expansion. In an April 15 letter to the planning commission, Frank Chaney dismissed the Hughesville plan as economically unworkable.

‘‘There truly must be a reality check,” Chaney wrote. ‘‘The chances of old Hughesville being redeveloped in any way is dependent on a sewer capacity increase. There [are] no currently applicable federal or state funds that Hughesville would have a chance of receiving at anytime in the foreseeable future.”

Joyce Rose fired back at that statement Wednesday, saying, ‘‘Hughesville has been sacrificial to the needs of everyone else to the death of its own town. ...We don’t want to be the industrial armpit of the county. ... It’s like kicking someone while they are down. ... I think the county owes Hughesville water and sewer.”

In his April letter, Chaney told the planning commission that he planned to sell lots from the land to finance the construction of facilities for the College of Southern Maryland and American Red Cross Southern Maryland chapter on another part of the property. He referred to these projects as ‘‘my dreams.”

‘‘I applaud his dream,” said Harry Stewart. ‘‘We all have dreams. But it is not the dream of Hughesville.”

‘‘I question the legality of Chaney tying his charity endeavors to heavy industrial zoning,” said Toy Cross before reading the dictionary definition of the word ‘‘bribe.”

Douglas Wilcox charged that granting the zoning change would be an ‘‘unethical” subsidization of Chaney’s business and called on the county’ ethics commission to investigate county officials for ‘‘violation of competition, free trade and fair play if the rezoning is passed.”

Both Bradley M. Gottfried, president of CSM, and Mike Zabko, Red Cross executive director, also went to the microphone. The men did not speak on the merits of the rezoning, but rather the needs of their organizations.

‘‘The reality is that we need to build another campus” to teach trades, Gottfried said, noting that the rezoning was an opportunity to do that.

‘‘Change in inevitable,” Zabko said, adding that the Red Cross faces increasing need and decreasing donations. ‘‘We would ask the commissioners to look at the big picture change.”

Frank Chaney took his turn at the microphone. Referring to his letter, he said, ‘‘Apparently, there’s a reason why I didn’t get an A in English.”

‘‘Is that supposed to be funny?” a heckler shouted.

Undaunted, Chaney told the audience that he is seeking the zoning as insurance in case he is forced to move his Waldorf gravel wash plant to the site in the wake of a county extension of Post Office Road to Acton Lane. He said there was a ‘‘5 percent chance” of that happening. He said he is not opposed to putting covenants on the land to restrict its use.

Chaney said his company has made several efforts to meet with Hughesville residents and address their concerns, saying, ‘‘I truthfully thought we’d made a lot of progress.”

The commissioners agreed to keep the public record open for 10 business days for written comment.