How do candidates feel about important Calvert County land use issues? All Calvert County Commissioner candidates were given three weeks to complete a survey initiated by the Sustainable Calvert Network, the Dunkirk Area Concerned Citizens Association, and the Huntingtown Civic Association. Mike Hart and Kelley McConkey did not respond. Seventeen candidates did: Mark Arness, Matt…
Over 200 citizens crowded into the hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to learn about this year’s prospective County Commissioners. Greg Bowen, Executive Director of the American Chestnut Land Trust, welcomed the candidates noting that citizenship is the cornerstone of a democracy and democracies fail if good people don’t come forward to run for office….
The 2nd Draft of the Comprehensive Plan will be presented to the Planning Commission on May 30th. This will be the first time that the Planning Commission will have seen a draft of the complete Plan with new sections and all of the implementation strategies. To properly evaluate the Plan, we expected that the Commission…
It was a rainy and chilly on the evening of March 28th, but residents filled the seats of Calvert High School Cafeteria to learn about the importance of Calvert’s rural landscapes, the status of land preservation, and to discuss next steps. Key points from the speakers: Jason Leavitt, President of the Calvert County Farm Bureau…
Now is not the time to kill the Calvert County land preservation program with the adoption of a new Comprehensive Plan. The 2012 agricultural census brought good news for those looking for new life in Calvert’s ag economy. Acres of land in agriculture actually increased by 6,500 acres to 32,900 acres between 2007 and…
With good soils, temperate climate, 40 inches of rain annually, and a peninsula located on the most prolific estuary in the nation, Calvert County was naturally one of the first places colonized in the 1600s. Until the middle of the 20th Century, rural economies were “King” for three reasons: seafood was abundant, agriculture was viable…
For its fourth workshop, the county staff and consultant will be focusing on preserving rural character. The workshop will be held Thursday, April 20, Building B, Workshop 6:30-8:30 p.m. and it entitled “Preserving Rural Character and Directing Growth to Existing Population Centers”. The title is significant. In too many rural counties, the “rural” part is lost if…
Calvert County’s update of the Comprehensive Plan is in full swing. Many of our SCN members participated in the comprehensive plan meetings organized by County planning staff. Afterward, the Sustainable Calvert Network leadership voted unanimously to forward the following recommendations concerning the new plan. “Our nine groups have come together to comment on the Comprehensive…
On April 5th, Governor Hogan signed into law HB 462 Program Open Space – Transfer Tax Repayment – Use of Funds. The bill restores and protects state funding to transfer tax-funded land conservation, preservation and recreation programs. The bill had broad support in the House and Senate. Maryland’s land preservation stakeholder groups played a major…
By Dr. Walter Boynton Introduction and Purpose: Calvert County is endowed with an amazing abundance and diversity of natural resources. Chesapeake Bay, often thought of as the queen of North American estuaries, borders the County to the east and the Patuxent River estuary, the largest river-estuary wholly within Maryland, defines the western border of the…