Old Mall Plan Delayed, Could See Substantial Change
Look forward to a new plan for the old Salisbury Mall. So far, everything promised by Salisbury Mayor Barrie Tilghman, former Council President Mike Dunn and Councilman Gary Comegys has either been delayed or substantially altered. Expect the same when the developers finally submit a final plan - NEXT YEAR.
Yesterday the Salisbury-Wicomico Planning Commission granted a one year extension for the developers, Salisbury Mall Associates, to submit a final plan. By itself this should be no great cause for concern. Unfortunately, there were conflicting statements given to the media yesterday. In Greg Latshaw’s piece in the Daily Times it was reported that the Commission granted the requested extension contingent on the project “not ’substantially’ deviating from its plan for 685 residential units and 350,000 square feet of commercial space. WBOC reports that developer Jon Natelson stated that, “retail spaces could possibly be more profitable than housing there.”
Continuing his record as a reporter that does his job well (even if I disagree with him at times) Latshaw was wise to place “substantially” in quotes. We have learned from past experience that the Planning Commission will deny you the right to put up a sign in a heartbeat, but seldom does it say no to a developer.
Despite the property’s fairly restrictive zoning, expect to see more commercial space. Don’t be surprised to see the developers come back with a plan that calls for more retail and types of retail that are not permitted under their zoning. Assuming that this occurs, we can expect to see Salisbury City Attorney Paul Wilber to make up some justification for allowing the plan. Unless another group of citizens bands together in court again the developers will get their wish. Why shouldn’t they?
So far Salisbury Mall Associates have failed to meet any deadline, but there are no repercussions. They are receiving a TRIPLE SUBSIDY from the Salisbury taxpayers. Why shouldn’t the developers have a perfect right to expect that they can now change their plans and still enjoy their fat subsidy? History has proven that they can do as they wish and the Tilghman administration will continue to reward them.
cross posted at Salisbury News
Technorati Tags: Maryland, Salisbury, politics, Salisbury politics, development, subsidy, WBOC, Daily Times, Gannett, Barrie Tilghman, Gary Comegys, Mike DunnSphere: Related Content
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