Carroll County’s comprehensive master plan draft, called Pathways, is causing some confusion for both residents and elected officials.

The biggest issues about the plan include lack of explanations about the proposed rezoning of some residential land, especially in Taylorsville, to an employment campus classification as well as land rezoned
south of I-70 in Mount Airy for industrial and commercial use.

Del. Susan Krebs (R-9B) of Eldersburg said at a June 18 Freedom Area Citizens’ Council meeting that most people looking at the printed maps would not know that some land is rezoned. Instead, they would have to know that they should view the document online and zoom.

“Unless you stare at the maps in here and get a magnifying glass, you don’t know that many of the re-districtings are happening,” she said. “These little blue marks mean a lot, and there’s nothing in this document explaining these things have turned blue and they’re major, major rezoning changes.”

The two rezoning changes catching fire are both turning about 1,700 acres of residential land in Taylorsville’s routes 26 and 27 intersection to employment campus land and another being land south of I-70 in Mount Airy at the headwaters of the Patapsco River.

Regardless of the plan’s version — electronic or printed — neither explains in detail the reasoning behind the changes.

“There’s no explanation in this document why (the county) rezoned 1,700 acres in Taylorsville,” Krebs said. “You shouldn’t have to go to the county to understand what’s going on. People are not getting good answers.”

Bobbi Moser, Carroll County comprehensive planner, said at the meeting that the county has made available the Pathways Assistance Center in the county office to have questions answered and explain any uncertainty about the draft plan.

Residents at the meeting, including Ross Dangel of Eldersburg said that he has received conflicting answers to the same question by staff available at community meetings and at the center and also said the plan contains a "lot of fluff."

Krebs said she had a similar experience, calling the process a “fiasco so far.”

“There were planners to came to the Mount Airy and Eldersburg libraries a month ago and were suppose to answer questions,” she said. “The planners at the Eldersburg Library were not from the area; they had no idea to the questions they were asked. And you stood in line to ask a question about the map, they did not give you the proposal and you had to look it up online first.”

Krebs said it’s time for the county to step back and answer the unresolved questions correctly.

Read the June 28 edition of The Carroll Eagle for more on how land was selected to be rezoned and what your property rights are for the proposed rezoning and land use designations in Pathways.

Pathways resources

View information and studies about Pathways at www.carrollpathways.org.

Residents with questions about Pathways can call the Pathways hotline at 877-349-8309 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Residents can also visit the Pathways Assistance Center at Room 205 in the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St., Westminster from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Staff will be available to provide assistance and answer any questions related to the draft Pathways Plan document, the proposed zoning text, and the proposed zoning maps.

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user comments (6)

user bluebird4343 says...

Thank you Del. Susan Krebbs for speaking out about this landgrab that Carroll County Planning and Zoning are attempting. 200 families are facing much distress with this "pathways" on 625 acres south of I 70. Someone has to be behind it and we cannot find out who. Rezoning a Business Park in Tier II watershed where clear streams and wet land exit that are at the head of the Patapco River is irresponsible. The run off from asphalt and cement will destroy the natural habitat. The Board of Planning and Zoning will not answer questions to the public after the final draft is written. I feel the Citizens of Carroll County are being steamrolled and someone has to find out why!!!!

Posted 9:42 AM, 06.25.09

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user kadulan says...

Thank you Del. Krebs for attending the meeting first of all. Secondly, thank you for seeing the reality of the situation and speaking out about it. Hopefully, we who are affected will start to receive honest answers soon.

Posted 12:00 PM, 06.25.09

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user songbird says...

I am resident of Carroll who happens to think that the Pathways plan is an excellent way forward for the county. I was not sure at first about it because of all the noise being made by some people - but I attended the meetings and listened to all the negative stuff. But apart from just saying that they did not like the plan - there was little substance in what was said beyond anger and noise. I did not speak and neither did others who agree with the plan because it did not seem to be the place to do so. The shouting and ruckus at the Century High meeting really put me off. I was not going to stand up and be shouted down - because that is all that would have happened. They did not seem to be in the mood to listen to an alternative view. But I made a point of reading the entire plan - I am not sure how many of those who disagree have actually read it all because they do not seem to understand that there is ample consideration of conservation in it. In fact, if the plan is followed we will have more conservation land in Carroll than we did before - granted it will not be in the same areas. I live in one of the contested areas and have no problem with the idea of a business park. It is a far better alternative than having residences and business springing up in every corner of the county in a hap hazard way without any planning.

Posted 2:42 PM, 06.25.09

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user says...

You know Pathways is a poor plan when the politicians get conflicting answers from the commission and call the plan a "fiasco". There is so much that just doesn't seem addressed by this plan! Rts. 27 and 144 are little, winding, no-shoulder two-lane roads that extend into Howard and Montgomery Counties. By placing a businesspark at this intersection, you are affecting not just the 200 residents who live in the rezoned area, but thousands more on the streets that feed the site. I live on Frederick Rd. - Rt. 144 - in Howard County, and I certainly don't want the light pollution, increased truck and commercial traffic (with speeders!), increase in house and car insurance (due to being near a business park), and the decrease in my property value. I find it amazing that not only has Pathways failed to adequately address the queries of its own citizens, but tramples on the concerns of Montgomery County and Howard Country residents as well! Delegate Krebbs, please spread the word among your colleagues, and help put a halt to this travesty!

Posted 2:56 PM, 06.25.09

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user baldeagle says...

Thanks to everyone who is speaking out in opposition to the Pathways Plan. Unlike Songbird, I thought the meeting at Century was very well organized and the audience was controlled. The speakers were easy to hear and the only "ruckus"� I heard were people cheering when the speakers pointed out the disastrous economic consequences and personal freedoms the Pathways proposal would take away from landowners in Carroll County. The "work where you live"� philosophy in Pathways sounds rosy, until you realize that the Plan wants to turn Mount Airy and Taylorsville into another Rockville and Germantown, bringing with it higher taxes, crime and congestion. You only need to read the newspapers to see the crime at Arundel Mills, which used to be a sleepy community in Anne Arundel County. I moved to Carroll County because I wanted to live in the country, even if that meant commuting to a town where pay was higher. I could also afford Carroll's property taxes, whereas Howard County's taxes and prices of homes were above my means. Songbird, if you actually "live in one of the contested areas,"� I would be interested in hearing the advantages you see in rezoning your personal home to a commercial dwelling, because I sure don't see any.

Posted 9:57 AM, 06.26.09

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user jwolfe60 says...

More than $100,000,000 of up front investment is required to build the infrastructure needed by the proposed Office Parks near Taylorsville and Mount Airy. We are asked to buy into this without any compelling analysis that illustrates that the envisioned jobs would actually materialize. We are promised a reduced future tax burden for public services which are not clearly defined. There are claims by county Officials that the hundreds of families whose property values will adversely affected will some be the people who come to appreciate the changes the most. Water availability concerns and negative environmental impacts are glossed over. Much of Pathways is a high risk, poorly conceived plan to solve problems that the County does not have. More than 1,000 citizens have loudly voiced opposition in recent weeks. More people need to speak out and remember this example of bad policy come election time this Fall. If Pathways is accepted, we need clearly need big change in Westminster.

Posted 12:13 AM, 06.27.09

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