For those of us who were born here, left here, came back here, come here, still here, please read and get involved.
We all have in common our love for this county and its rural, agricultural, and water oriented nature with an abundance of wildlife. Its two rivers and the Chesapeake Bay form almost an island with route 301 on its Northeastern border. Traveling from the Chesapeake Bay through Queen Anne’s county via 301 to Cecil county or Middletown DE, it is the most green, undeveloped, and bucolic stretch of 301.
But that’s about to change.
A developer owns approximately 400 acres, mostly farmland, more with partners’ involvement, bordering route 301 and 291 on both the northeast and the northwest sides of 301.
On the northeast side, it includes a major expansion of Millington with hotels, shops, restaurants, new homes, medical facilities (an elementary school, upgraded water and sewer perhaps?) et cetera. This could be good for Millington, providing services, jobs and amenities to encourage families to come here/stay here.
However, on the northwest side, the FIRST to be developed, there are to be two warehouse distribution centers totaling 500,000 ft, each on separate 20 acre parcels bordering Mills Branch Creek (our back property line, along with 5 acres of wooded wetlands), which flows into the Chester River. The creek is bordered on each side by an important forested wildlife habitat. Air, water, noise pollution and traffic are significant concerns.
According to the developer, the warehouses will be in full LEED compliance. How does this mesh with great numbers of tractor trailers (possibly 66 bays per warehouse), spewing diesel fumes and particulate matter in a sensitive area?
Currently, warehouse height is limited to 45′. LRK planners in Philadelphia has recommended the height be increased to 60′ “due to state of the art advancements in robotics and vertical storage capacity”. How does this mesh with jobs for people? What is the ratio of people to robots?
There is a meeting on May 4th with the Planning Commission requesting a text amendment to raise the height of these warehouses from 45′ to 60′. This size and height is way out of scale for both the size of the property and the nature of Kent County. The 291 overpass and each of the traffic circles and the service road parallel to 301 are not built to accommodate the increased truck traffic, creating significant safety issues. And, if approved, it will become precedent for another distribution center, possibly in the planning stage on the northeast side of 301 in the “mixed use” zoned area which includes warehouses. Once that “precedent” door opens, it will be hard to close it to further development of that type.
I am not opposed to development, but keep it controlled and in scale with the surrounding properties, the people who live here, the nature of Kent County and the environment.
If the above concerns you, please contact your County Commissioners and express your views. The meeting is 1:30 PM at 400 High street in Chestertown on Thursday May 4th and is open to the public.
Melinda Bookwalter
Kent County
Joshua Elbourn says
As usual nobody wants anything in Kent County. Just go down the Road 1/2 mile and build it in Queen Anne county.
Melinda Bookwalter says
Correction: in the 4th paragraph I speak of “mostly farmland”, in retrospect a confusing term. It is a mixture of farmed land, ie not necessarily zoned for agriculture, and farmland, ie zoned for agriculture. I do not have the percentages. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
Mildred Joyce Kim says
I agree with this letter, but wish it went even further. I saw the wonderful video Kent County on Maryland Public Television and it expresses what makes Kent County unique and precious. This is not the right project here. The neighboring residents seemed to know little until it was almost a “Done Deal”.
In particular, where is the water supply coming from? But actually, the whole huge complex is out of place in this special place. It may be in a development area, but this is not the kind of development we want or need.
Joy Kim, Chestertown
Janet Christensen-Lewis says
Melinda, your letter is beautifully written and eloquently expresses what most residents who are aware of this development project believe. While Kent County residents are not opposed to development in designated growth areas, they are rightfully concerned about the scale, environmental impact, and overall vision of the project and the future of development in this area. We need a thoughtful plan that addresses the needs and concerns of the citizens, while also respecting the natural beauty and resources of Kent County.
The current proposal includes a staggering one million square feet of impervious surface, which has rightly caused concern among residents. We must ensure that the development we allow does not lead to air and water pollution, or other negative impacts on our environment.
Furthermore, it’s crucial that development in this area is not dominated by the vision of one developer who is driven solely by a desire for personal gain, just because he controls the bulk of the land. Instead, we need a community-driven approach that benefits everyone, including future generations.
Your letter serves as a call to action for residents to participate in the dialogue and take a close look at what is being proposed. We must learn from the mistakes of other counties, such as Harford, where development has gone horribly wrong, resulting in a moratorium on warehouse development.
Thank you for speaking out and encouraging others to do the same. With thoughtful planning and community involvement, we can create development in the appropriate places, such as the Millington growth area, that benefits the county, protects our environment and the beauty of Kent County that we all love.
Michael Bitting says
I find it funny that the organization (and individual) that is vehemently against any form of renewable energy in Kent County (save for residential rooftop solar) is worried about environmental impact. Just another justification after the fact. Lots of mental gymnastics at play here to justify their desire to squash any sort of economic development in the county. JCL is acutely aware of the planning and regulations that go into this sort of development but goes on any sort of public forum wielding pitchforks and torches to garner opposition without context.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Egm0j_p1A
Gregory Cruz sr. says
Yes this is much needed for our slowly dying County we need this developer to come quickly because jobs are extinct money is going across state lines and we are losing Revenue at a rapid rate I’m for it build a daycare restaurant hotels whatever we need to get this County back in shape
Carrie States says
I totally agree with this! This county is dying at a fast pace. We need growth here. We don’t even have a decent department store for that last minute “gift” We have to shop out of state. Young adults have to travel out of state for employment. Yes we love quiet back roads and country scenery but our 1 and only hospital can’t even deliver babies anymore, you have to drive almost an hour to nearest hospital.They also cant handle major emergencies any longer, patients are transported out by
helicopter. This needs to change. Money is being spent to cover things outside of this county..when it all should be used to develop and keep this county alive. Sad to hear when people don’t like change and it’s desperately needed. Kent county has changed alot over the years..and it is not for the better.
Deirdre LaMotte says
I agree in so many ways, you make a compelling
argument. Just know that huge warehouses and
unfettered development never will increase our quality
of life. It enhances the profits of those who do not
live here. Please examine this. A single department store is not the issue. We need that. It is the dumping
of imperviousness surface to serve nothing that helps us but hurts our home. Hurts our water and our rivers.
This hurts our
livelihood and way of life.
The key, I feel, is to insist on parameters for any development. If one wants to build, let that fit the community and the surrounding ecosystems.
A one size fits every rural community has destroyed
livelihoods, locally owned businesses and our collective community.
Melinda Bookwalter says
Thanks to all for continuing the dialogue.
There was a lot of good testimony at the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, 4th. Ultimately the Commission voted to recommend to the County Commissioners that they deny the height increase. A driving force was that “a text amendment is easy to pass and hard to change.” Their recommendation was to disapprove the height increase and to consider allowing it only as an exception with conditions attached. This could insure that all concerns are addressed in the approval process for any application requesting a height increase above the current 45′ allowance.
So far this is about the increase in height of the buildings. They are only applying for the distribution center buildings at this point.
Again, Many of us are not against development, just the excessive size of these buildings. The conceptual design of the expansion of Millington is not yet in the application process. As currently conceived this expansion seems favorable to the growth of Millington.