A May 7 WCBC 1270 AM news blurb reported on a recent update by Allegany County Attorney William Rudd to the County Commissioners on the proposed development project at Terrapin Run. A challenge to the development spawned a controversial court decision and subsequent legislation by the Maryland General Assembly to “correct” the decision, which indicated in dicta that a local comprehensive plan is a guide and does not have to be precisely followed by a zoning ordinance. Ultimately, State law was modified to reiterate that local zoning ordinances must be “consistent” with land use classifications contained in a jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan. The proposed development project has remained in limbo since the court decision and legislation.
Allegany County Attorney William Rudd presented a prepared statement to the commissioners last week updating and clarifying the county’s position on the long discussed Terrapin Run development project. It was 2005 when Terrapin Run Developer Michael Charnock presented a plan that would have put 4,300 homes into a subdivision in eastern Allegany County. After experiencing some financial difficulties with the project that was scaled back to less than a thousand. With the state not happy with the projects inclusion in the county comprehensive plan- the matter ended up in court. Rudd said that if the county would adopt the state’s view, the decision would negate recent agreements signed by all parties. The agreement has been extended twice in an attempt to resolve issues between the developer and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources….
The news blurb also contains a short audio clip of Rudd’s testimony.
