Planning Dept. Gives Update Report; DOT Officials To Visit Garrett County

courtesy Republican News


Sep. 18, 2008

The Garrett County commissioners heard a departmental update report on Tuesday from Planning and Land Development staff members. Among the topics discussed were the Maryland Department of Transportation (DOT) secretary's annual visit, outdoor signage legislation, the Garrett County Comprehensive Plan draft, and building permits.
Garrett County Planning and Land Development director John Nelson told the commissioners that DOT Secretary John Porcari and State Highway Administration officials would meet with them on Friday, Oct. 3, at 10 a.m. at the courthouse. The event is open to the public.

State officials will discuss local and state projects outlined in the DOT's Consolidated Transportation Program draft for fiscal years 2009 through 2014. Local officials have also compiled a "wish list" of their own concerns, questions, and priorities that they will present at that meeting.

Topping the priorities list once again is the Rt. 219 Oakland Bypass project, although the DOT announced last week that it and numerous other capital projects across the state have been deferred in the Consolidated Transportation Program because of the national economy.

"But it can be modified at any time, in any given year, perhaps after the economy turns," Nelson said about the program.

Several other local projects have also been deferred, but which ones those are will not be known to the general public until the Oct. 3 meeting.

Also on the commissioners' list of concerns/priorities are the Rt. 219 North alignment project, improvements to the Rt. 219 corridor throughout Garrett County, continued upgrades to Rt. 42, and possible upgrades to Rt. 495 in order to alleviate traffic within the Deep Creek Lake area.

Nelson also noted that the local Planning Commission will ask state officials to improve signage/line striping along Rt. 135 at the bottom of Backbone Mountain in Bloomington to delineate the road turning movements. Motorists often have trouble, especially at night, distinguishing between the highway and a NewPage lumber yard.

In addition, Nelson reported that the Recreational Trails Committee for Garrett County is ready to develop a trails network. The Planning Commission, therefore, will encourage DOT officials to fund the Meadow Mountain Trail, which will connect Deep Creek Lake State Park to the Comfort Inn in Grantsville, and the Deep Creek Trail, which will connect Wisp Resort to the Visitors Center in McHenry.

Nelson also reported that the Sign Task Force recently met. This ad hoc committee was formed by the commissioners to access the need for outdoor advertising sign regulations and possible legislation.

At their Aug. 19 meeting, task force members passed a motion to recommend that the commissioners first seek legislation that would merely give them the authority to regulate outdoor signs.

"The task force believes this simple authority would provide the county with the flexibility to develop an appropriate level of control within a local ordinance and that the specific text of the ordinance would not be contained within state law, thereby allowing greater flexibility for change to the standards in the future," task force chair Tony Doerr wrote in a letter to the commissioners.

The task force members offered their services to define and develop the specific content of any future county regulations, Nelson noted.

The director also reported that the Planning Commission will most likely adopt its final draft of the Garrett County Comprehensive Plan at its next meeting. The draft will then be given to the commissioners for their review.

Nelson noted, however, that there is a discrepancy between what the Planning Commission wants in Chapter 7 (Sensitive Areas) and what the commissioners would like to see.

The director indicated he would bring the Planning Commission's final draft, plus a revised page or two of Chapter 7 that reflects the commissioners' viewpoints, to the commissioners' meeting on Oct. 7.

Permits and Inspections chief Jim Torrington reported on permitting activity. He presented the commissioners with a spreadsheet, comparing data from January through August 2008 with the same time frame in 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004.

Overall, Torrington said, building permits were down nearly 20 percent this year compared to the first eight months of 2007. Housing starts for that same period were down 27 percent.

Torrington noted, however, that commercial/institutional permits were up 30 percent compared to last year. Fifty-two permits were issued in 2008, while 40 were approved the previous year.

He pointed out that this year's commercial projects are primarily small scale, involving renovation work. The total builder declared value of the 52 initiatives is more than $10.4 million. However, the two largest projects – the Oakland Lowe's store and Mountain State Brewing Company along Sang Run Road – account for $6 million of that figure.

The commissioners will not hold a public meeting next week. Their next scheduled meeting date is Tuesday, Sept. 30.


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