Editorial

'Land-use issue' - Quarry no longer a good fit for Middletown
Winchester Star, July 26


Thanks to the Frederick County Planning Commission for its vote to recommend denial of the O-N Minerals (Chemstone) rezoning request to the Frederick County Board of Supervisors. I say this not because it went the way I wanted, but because it is the right thing to do.
The take-away summary of the Planning Commission's denial of the request to re-zone 639 acres (over four times the area between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building, known as the National Mall!) of prime country land in the Middletown area is that such an industry, while possible acceptable 50, 40, or maybe even 30 years ago, is no longer appropriate use for that land in 2006 and the future. As one commissioner said, "This is a land-use issue, and open strip mining in this high-growth, residential area is not appropriate." It is inappropriate for any acreage or quarry function.

The Planning Commission is the county's highest planning and zoning authority. This commission did an excellent job of examining details and posing practical questions and concerns in the 60-day period up to the June 7 hearing, and the community and citizens stepped forward in force.

The package the Planning Commission will forward to the Board of Supervisors is not, however, "a pile of crap," as Roger Thomas inappropriately states. It is a professionally (though less-than-fully disclosed) proposal by Chemstone, closely examined by the Planning Commission and public, with multiple references to weaknesses in the formal proposal and numerous clarifications sought from Chemstone not yet answered.

The package also includes copies of the comments of those citizens addressing the commission and Chemstone during the hearing. Those 60 or so people ranged from farmers to homeowners, from attorneys to concerned mothers of young children, and from police officers warning of serious road safety problems to water specialists, geologists, and engineers with much subject expertise.

Therefore, the public comment portion reflects a comprehensive community perspective as well as significant technical expertise about the proposal. The Planning Commission considered all of these elements - the formal Chemstone proposal, questions given to Chemstone in the April 5 hearing, the Chemstone response (none), public community comments, and the intended spirit of the land-use portion of the Frederick County master plan.

The Planning Commission arrived at the measured recommendation to send the complete package to the Board of Supervisors with a denial of the rezoning request. Surely the board will concur.

William Graham is a resident of Frederick County