Development decisions must seek balance Guest Column

I do believe the city's forest conservation review process needs some fairly significant repairs. The practices followed by Annapolis' administrative agencies for the past several decades have not been consistent. The City Council should act to bring clarity to the laws currently in place....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCapital (Annapolis, Md.)
Main Author Hyatt, Alan J
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Annapolis Tribune Publishing Company, LLC 10.06.2015
Subjects
Finlayson, Sheila
Savidge, Rob
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Summary:I do believe the city's forest conservation review process needs some fairly significant repairs. The practices followed by Annapolis' administrative agencies for the past several decades have not been consistent. The City Council should act to bring clarity to the laws currently in place. I am not convinced, though, that O-32-14, the bill primarily sponsored by Aldermen Jared Littmann, will bring any real improvement or progress in its current form. Mr. [Rob Savidge] describes this bill as a "meticulously crafted" ordinance that balances stakeholder concerns. Anyone who witnessed the council's recent public hearing on the bill, or who has examined the position of the city's own Office of Law on the ordinance, would perhaps agree that a lot more work is needed on O-32-14 if it is to achieve meaningful progress for Annapolis. However the City Council ultimately decides to revise Annapolis' forest conservation laws, it should arrive at its decision by listening to the concerns of its many citizens expressing a variety of viewpoints.