And The Development Just Keeps On Coming
Do we need an Ocean Pines in southeast Wicomico County? According to Friday’s Daily Times, that’s just what you’re going to get.
What is being billed as a 926 unit community for seniors is also being promoted as a less expensive alternative to Ocean Pines according to James Wannemacher, executive director of the developer Pomerac-Burke Associates LLC.
I don’t know when you last rode through Ocean Pines, but I can assure that it is not a retirement community. This seems to be another ploy to get the development approved.
In case you are not familiar with the “Old Folks Waltz” favored by many developers in Wicomico County, here is how it works. First you put together your plan and tell the Planning Commission that your development is for seniors only. Of course the Planning Commission doesn’t bother making you put it in writing. Next you get the approval of the County Council. It’s the rare development that they don’t love anyway. Next you build and market the homes to any and all takers. Hey, there’s not even an impact fee, much less an excise tax in Wicomico. It’s not like the developer is going to have to finance the schools that will have to be built or the roads that will be needed. Last (and this is the most important part), you take your money and laugh all the way back to where you came from (in this case New Jersey).
No wonder voters are cynical. While I don’t claim to know all of the details of this project, I’d be shocked if it’s not approved. I just hope the voters remember on election day.
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SO LET ME GET THIS RIGHT, ALL DD WANTS IS TO STOP ALL DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASE TAXES, AND MAYBE BUILD ANOTHER BOOTH ST FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, SOUNDS GOOD TO ME
JSHGURU, okay, we’ll let you get this right. Try again, li’l fella, because ya sure didn’t get it right this time.
Lemme guess. Realtor? Or member of VOICE?
Whenever anyone accuses this blog or the commenters on it of wanting to stop all development and raise taxes, my radar goes up.
Bunch o’ hyperbole.
Bunch o’ horsepatoot.
Not at all Mr. Guru. The question is not one of development v no development. The question is who is going to pay for the inherent costs of development?
The proposed development in Powellville sounds great. The problem is that 926 units are going to cause a big increase in traffic. I don’t think that the taxpayers of Wicomico County should have to pick up the tab for the road improvements that will be required.
The development is being touted as a “seniors community”. If the approval by the Planning Commission and County Council is contingent on deed restrictions to residents over the age of 50, great. If not, who is going to pay for the additional school capacity that will be required?
This is my problem with people who scream TAX at the notion of impact fees and excise taxes linked to schools, roads, or any other development related impact. No one opposed to these fees / taxes will argue the merits. The bottom line is that housing is priced to the market. If there are exicse taxes / impact fees attached to development the homes will still only sell for X dollars. Will the developer have a lower profit margin? Yes. Will the taxpayer have to continue picking up the full tab for impact related costs? No.
Since I am not a developer, I am not the one who would be taxed. Unless you are a developer, you won’t be taxed. Therefore, what is your concern?
If your concern is that the County Council will have more money to spend then you need to endorse taxes / fees that can only be used certain purposes. As an example, I am for a schools excise tax that can only be used for school construction and / or renovation. I am not for a schools excise tax that can be used for operating costs.
You should explain EXACTLY what you are for and what you are against. Otherwise we can only assume that you are for unlimited development and opposed to any new or increased taxes. This brings up the question of what you propose to do when our schools are at 150% (or 200%) of capacity and no child in the county has an opportunity for a quality PUBLIC education.
I am for fees that can only be used for construction and renovation as long as it increases the number of students the school can hold. I am not a builder or R.E. agent, but a small business owner. In Wicomico County I pay about $6000 a year in R.E. taxes on a house by the old mall. On the contrary, my business is in Delaware where I only pay $504/yr. on a 5 acre piece of commercial property. Need I say more? Do away with tenure, make the teachers responsible for what their students learn, and do away with about half of the supervisors, or put them back to teaching if they can cut it. Plus a full audit of the B of ED, we will probably have plenty of money for a quality education.
Excellent reply Mr. Guru.
As to an excise tax, that is just what we are talking about. While I am sure that Tony Sarbanes and some folks at the Board of Ed would love a schools excise tax that could be used for operating expenses I don’t know of any responsible individual who supports such a tax. The type of excise tax we are talking about could be used for capital projects only. By this I mean construction of new schools and renovation of existing schools to increase capacity.
I agree that your property taxes are too high. However, that is a seperate issue. A reasonable person does not oppose one item because of their concern about an unrelated issue. An excise tax does not impact your property taxes. It only forces developers to pay for the impact that is caused by their project(s).
If you want to see your property taxes reduced then you need to get involved. Not by supporting something like the revenue cap, but by electing responsible people to Council and by standing up at meetings and point out where they are wasting your money. Believe it or not it does work over the long term.
As to your comment of the BOE needing an audit, I believe that they already are audited. One of us will find out. I plan of attending as many future BOE as possible and seeing where we can save some money.
Thanks for reading.