The intersection of Mountain Road (Route 152) and Franklinville Road lies outside of the Development Envelope and the State Priority Funding Area where a paved park-and-ride location is planned by Maryland transportation. The land is forested and is a wetland area.
Zoning and land use laws are decided and enforced by each county, not by the state. The State of Maryland should abide by these local laws. And yet, the state’s Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) has cavalierly dismissed the zoning district uses defined by Harford County for Agricultural zoning.
County Bill 03-013, the Joppa/Joppatowne Community Plan, states in part, “The Joppa Rural Area … plan recommends that there be no extension of public water and sewer into the area along MD 152 north of I-95 … Throughout the area, the designation of all public services should be minimized and improvements to the road network should preserve and protect the natural characteristics of the roadway while providing safe and efficient travel.”
State Senators, Robert Cassilly, J.B. Jennings and Jason Gallion by recent letter and the County Council in recent legislation have all requested that the State of Maryland comply with Harford County’s land use and create a parking lot within the Priority Funding Area and not outside the area as proposed by the MdTA.
This target location is also corrupting the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 where Harford County designated this area to be a Tier 4 area defined as a “Priority Preservation Area, Rural Legacy Area, Protected Lands, and or Ag Forest.”
Acres of macadam defeats the intent of the state’s own sensitive land designation and the county’s laws. So we ask MdTA to abide by county and state regulations and abandon this foolhardy plan. We want green space not paved space.
GLORIA MOON
Joppa
