Two weeks after it was unanimously approved by the city council, the Mixed Office/Equipment Zoning ordinance, which would bring new hotels, offices and retail development to Route 155 and Bulle Rock Parkway, has been vetoed by Havre de Grace Mayor Wayne Dougherty – ostensibly because he says the plan should also include a new baseball/football/soccer field.
The city council approved the MOE Ordinance with a six-to-zero vote on Dec. 1, yet on Monday, Dec. 15, Dougherty issued a memo announcing he was vetoing the ordinance and offering his explanation why.
In his memo, Dougherty wrote:
First, I feel that any development, be it commercial or residential be held accountable to provide a much needed recreation area. It is my opinion that Ordinance 901 require a Multi-Use playing field. This field shall provide for recreation programs for Youth Football, Soccer, and Baseball; additionally, it is my opinion that a Parking Area be provided as well as a storage building for Maintaince Equipment. Further, this will be included in the square footage ofrecreational uses.
It is important to remember that in the proposed MOE development there is already passive recreation provided with a trail system that is incorporated into the design.
Dougherty, however, seems adamant about including a sports field at this location – even though the county is in the process of developing fields on Chapel Road and despite proposals considered a few years ago to build a sports complex on the city-owned property near the old community center off Lagaret Lane.
Dougherty’s veto has left many scratching their heads. From the looks of some of the specific uses he wants removed from the MOE ordinance (bakery, barbershop, card shop, coffee shop, florist, office supply, etc.) it gives the appearance there may be some special interests he is trying to protect.
This veto comes from the same person who apparently dismissed a report from a committee that was appointed by former Mayor David Craig and who gave back an $80,000 grant to hire a zoning consultant, because he thought he could do it in house.
Also, all of the proposed changes to the original MOE were staffed through the planning director who was hired by Dougherty, but who no longer works for the city. City council members themselves also appear to be in the dark regarding Dougherty’s veto and other machinations.
Other changes Dougherty proposed in his veto memo deal with design standards and height restrictions. Among other things, he wants to include air conditioners on the roof in the overall building height.
Nonetheless, Dougherty wrote that his intent wasn’t to completely derail the MOE, but merely amend it:
Further, the delivery of this Veto message is in no way infringing on the Ordinance to become law by the 45th day and I feel that this gives Council ample time, prior to our January 5th meeting to take action on the amendments I am suggesting.
That’s good news because, from what many are saying, including residents of Bulle Rock and surrounding neighborhoods, they all seemed happy with the prospect of being able to eat and shop close to their homes without having to travel to Bel Air or beyond.
Wow, didn’t know the position of mayor in HdG was so powerful. Figured he/she just had a vote like in Aberdeen.
Sounds like he is trying to protect the downtown district and it’s little shops. I can certainly understand that thought process, but I see this new area as drawing more from the I-95 traffic than locals.
There is a back entrance from Bulle Rock which spills out onto Rte. 40 and the main entrance off of 155 into HDG. The residents have plenty of access to the downtown and Rte. 40 shops (which are all new BTW). If this veto slows down urban sprawl on Rte. 155: hear, hear!!
So much for keeping this interchange a rural gateway to Harford County.. It will become just another ugly interchange along I-95 and kill the Havre de Grace downtown as they have up and down I-95. This is David Craig’s gift to his developer friends.
Proper placement of fields can result in a reasonable retention of rural appearance to the area. I would certainly like to see a field instead of a PILOT sign.
In the end the property WILL be developed….any aversion to what has become the “common interchange look” is welcomed.
I do however have an exception to having a coffee shop there. That doesn’t seem logical to me unless there comes with the coffee shop the ability to have other things also that would be in stealth at the same location.
Go Dagger !
Bravo!! we don’t need that stuff up here!! The newbies need to go downtown and check it out now that the scary homeless women are gone it’s safe to come down off the hill Y’all
Kudos to the Mayor for vetoing this garbage. The Last Veto was in the 80’s when Craig was mayor. The last one before that was in the 50’s or something. Sounds to me like the real estate developers are feeling the housing crunch too. They build too many houses and now they are broke. So They need to build hotels.
Well I think it’s apparent. Aberdeen & Haver De Grace does not need any more Hotel’s Motel’s etc.I suppose we could house the brac folk’s. there’s a new hotel being built in aberdeen right now. maybe we could provide the homeless some shelter.
Dear Mayor Daugherty:
I applaud your veto! While I believe even 25% is too much retail for the property, your instincts regarding space for recreational purposes are right on.
Please consider a Dog Park of 1.5 acres for the recreational space. City residents who have dogs are in desperate need of a place for dogs to go off leash and have opportunities to come together and be socialized thereby limiting the chance of unpleasant encounters on the streets of the city. Driving all the way to Bel Air to use the County Dog Park is time consuming and unnecessary if we had a local Park.
I sent you some information regarding Dog Parks not too long ago via email. A properly fenced area, self-policed Park, with seating and some minimal shelter from the sun similar to either the Humane Society Park or the the County Dog Park near the Farm Fair grounds would be ideal.
I will personally work my butt off, along with other dog owners(not a small number of citizens) to see this accomplished. I am sure such a Park will get more use than the Skate Park the City paid $10,000 for; seldom filled with more than one or two skaters.
Barry Anderson
Good to see my friend Barry up and about. Agreed Barry…all good points of tweeking. There is only ONE chance to get it right.
Go Dagger !
Steve…
As far as special interests …I have no problem with avoiding saturation of redundent buisnesses. Coffee shop in general…yes….backery, no…card shop, no (its customerily a side line of a coffee shop, newspapers and cards, along with candy and trinckets and baseball cards and ice cream. This is whats commonly known as an old school “corner candy store lunchenette”. They still exist in parts of Long Island and NYC and are crowded and classy.
As far as stand alone card shops…..NO WAY….I see a lot of them…basicly lotto halls with 2 newspapers and a Hall Mark rack….!!
We want to avoid the northern virginia cookie cutter style of development.
Go Dagger !
First of all….I love the scan of the Mayor’s veto with Paul Ishak’s name checked off on the bottom….gee, I wonder where that copy came from???LOL (I doubt it came from him)
Second, I truely feel that many people in HdG do not fully understand what the MOE truely is. It is MIXED OFFICE and EMPLOYMENT. The key word is OFFICE not retail. Any retail that would go into that district would only be designated to support the offices. Imagine the conveniences that an office worker would need such as dry cleaning, sub shops, coffe shops etc…..
I personally would love to see really cool retail such as Kohls, Barnes and Nobles, Pier 1 Imports, Wal-Mart (just kidding) but that is not what will happen. Only 20% of that district can be retail. 65% must be office and the remaining can be hotels and such.
While shopping is fun and big name stores can bring prestige to our area, retail alone will never ensure our towns success and prosperity (i.e.Perryville Outlets). The true purpose of the MOE is to bring JOBS to our area. I’d rather see a 5 story office building with 300 people making 75K+ than a retail store with 20 people making 7.50 an hour.
Good paying jobs will keep our home values strong and our city’s infrastructure sound. I’m not saying the mayors veto is good or bad, but it seems (from reading people’s comments) that many are not truely aware of what the MOE district truely is.
First off most of you missed the point all together. Mayor Doughtery is again abuising his power. First he cost the city $200000.00 trying to make himself look good because his plan for the parking downtown backfired. He was behind it from the start and when it went bad he blaimed the County Executive.
Next he violated the Civil Rights of the two ladies that were living on his corner. There are several more homeless people that he ignors.
Now he wants to protect his friends that support him. He could have put names on the establishments. Golls Bakery, Java by the Bay, Amandas Flourist,
Barry thats a great idea. Waste more tax dollars on a dog park.
No name:
We waste tax dollars on lots of stuff, but parks and recreation are what bring citizens together to enjoy open space and to socialize. These are key elements to life. If we are not here to connect with other like minded people what are we here for?
If it is such a waste why does every European City I have ever been in have parks everywhere? Why does practically every town and/or county in Florida have Dog Parks? Why does Harford County have a Dog Park just outside Bel AIr? Why does Montgomery County have several DOG Parks? Why are there Dog Parks everywhere in every urban setting in America?
If we just spend tax dollars on Police and DPW, what does that do for the higher quality of life? Why have government sponsored art shoes, concerts,or cultural events? Why spend money on Fourth of July?
In addition to commerce, Cities bring people together!
Don’t be shortsighted about tax money! It’s my money too! Dog owners vote!
How many skate boarders vote?
Barry Anderson
Lastly, to your point of “abusing power”. Abuse is in the eyes of the beholder.
I view what you call abuse in this case as a courageous stand by our Chief Executive. A stand to bring some grace to what seems like a rush to please developers, one more time.
I am tired of developers saying to Havre de Grace, “Bend over, I will tell YOU what I am going to do for you” without anything in it for the people who live here.
How may parks/recreation areas for people are in any of the developments on the “hill” ( Grace Harbor, etc.) or the gated Bulle Rock” ? How many? ZERO! I am sorry I can’t count a swing set and a slide as a park.
Not including the land a Dog Park will cost less than the $10K that the Skate Park cost the taxpayers of Havre de Grace.
Back at you “NO NAME”
I don’t see any value in a dog park. I’am and animal lover too. but avoid the park’s any vet will tell you’ it’s very possible to pick up parvo virus at these park’s primarly by stray’s that wander in to the areas.attracted by the scent of other dog’s
you wanna see some open air space? take a look at the park in aberdeen. poorly kept gang graffitti. a nice place for a family outing. why waste the money.
i’d rather see office building over any stores. the last strip mall built in HDG is a joke!! But i do like to get donuts there even though i can barely understand what they are saying.
how about a off road park up there for off road vehichles!!
there was talk of a car race track. at the old naval center at bainbridge. decided it was to much noise.off road would be the same thing. maybe could talk the army in to letting us in to churchville tank testing ground’s.
Lot’s of steep hill’s. ravines swamp’s etc.
i’ll never live long enough to see anything built on bainbridge and i’m not that old :O) oh i’m sure i could get stuck at the tank testing grounds!
Right on Mayor Dougherty!!!!!!!
We all know that Havre de Grace is a unique and special environment with tremendous character. The town is so proud of its uniqueness that it even has its own flag!
The citizens of Havre de Grace do not live there for the purpose of having a Bel Air/ I have to live next to the department store life-style. Yet, there are plenty of downtown and Rt. 40 businesses which would be sucked dry by having a bunch of off the freeway franchises.
If we have to suffer these businesses, then why not some lifestyle improving recreation areas to go with them? Where can anyone in the Bulle Rock/Grace Harbor/Bayview area go for a game of basketball, soccer, football or anything? Nowhere, except for one of the public schools down the hill. But are there sidewalks/walking paths, safe highway crossing etc. for children to walk to these places? No.
We certainly aren’t in such dire need of another doughnut shop, some office space or another florist at that location. As for a hotel, why do some people here want to make Havre de Grace a carbon copy of every other place? Do we really want Havre de Grace to be another Aberdeen, Bel Air or even a Baltimore? We are unique, we have a unique name. We have a unique heritage of duck hunting, decoys, race tracks, light houses, Bed & Breakfast houses, museums, the mouth of the bay and plenty of natural beauty. Where else can you find this?
Mayor Dougherty is right on track and has Havre de Grace in mind in regard to this decision.
Obviously the City council hasn’t been listening to citizens! I am pleased to see that the Mayor has!!! As the parent of two teenagers, I can tell you first hand that the only thing to do in this town for kids is to hang out on street corners. Anyone ever go to the Community Center and try to reserve time for the kids to have a pick up game of ball or try to find a field for the kids? Citizens are constantly complaining about kids hanging out and driving around causing trouble. A few kids on a street corner must be dealing drugs (perception isn’t always reality). A few kids are really just a few kids trying to burn off energy! A dog park, a football field, a soccer field and an empty field for kids to just get together and enjoy a pick up game.
Those people that accuse the mayor of supporting his cronies are truly missing the point. You can not put in a strip mall/ box store area with such stores that would endanger the downtown area. We have a main street area that is already suffering especially in this financial environment. We would be much better off with office space in this area as it would create jobs. An office related job will enhance the tax base of the citizens more than a job created from coffee shop, florist etc.
Our main street area need the citizens from Havre de Grace to patronize them especially in the winter months. We have a quaint town, bask in it!
Now that RT 155 is getting deserved attention I would like to see the city take a good look at truck traffic. I have been on this for years. As a driver for , ummmm, about 32 years I have a little insight into whats going on .
We have a unique problem In Havre de Grace which I don’t think is appreciated. The truck scale on I-95 the north side of the river causes trucks to use rt 40 both east and west, via rt155 to avoid going over that scale and thus avoiding enforcement. This is evident any time the north bound scale is opened on 95 as you will see a steady parade of trucks coming down 155 and turning left on rt 40 to cross the Hatem Bridge to avoid the I95 scale.
The irony is that those trucks attempting to avoid the scale, do so for a reason. They may be overweight, the drivers may be out of “service hours”, the trucks may be mechanically defective, or a plethora of other reasons that a truck would want to “go around ” a scale.
The solution is to , with proper signage, make left turns from Ohio street to rt 40 east bound, illegal for trucks. There is no place , no reason, for a truck to ever have to make that turn.
The benefit is a significant reduction of truck traffic on rt 155 towards the city. Truck traffic that is trying to avoid the scale for various reasons and would rather risk a potentially dangerous hill than be inspected. If trucks realize that trying to “duck” the scale at our city’s exit is fruitless it simply wont be done. With the potential for truck weights going up to 97,000 pounds from the current 80,000 pounds without significant changes to the equipment being pondered this will become even more dangerous in the next few years. We had a rollover in the last year or so and in a more distant past there have been a number of uncontrolled truck accidents at the base of the hill on 155. As we get more commuter congestion from BRAC and legitimate industrial development we must be prudent and work on our traffic controls to both provide safety to our citizens in their commutes, reduce congestion at peak hours and provide commercial access to the city to those who are actually doing business here.
Any one who has a question can e-mail me at ONEKOOLESKIMO@YAHOO.COM
GO DAGGER !
Brenda,
How can anyone say that the Downtown is threatened by a shopping center on the Barker farm. Business is so brisk “Downtown” that one business has to have safety cones to reserve a parking place for their (Her) exclusive use.
MikeT
Buisnesses down town are hurting.
GD
Richie C is correct.
From the business owners I’ve talked with, even those that seem to be ok, most are not hitting the numbers they need to hit to maintain stability. Indeed, a few are “treading water” and at least one has gone under. Not a healthy economy right now–development blight on 155 will benefit no one and burden many.
(I would not begrudge a local business owner a parking place near her place of business.)
I would think the business owner’s first priority would be the customer. parking is certainly’ a bad situation in down town Haver De grace. I suppose it would be disgusting to watch a car pull in front of your business and go else where after you put your self out.
Good point, vietnam vet, but how much is one “put out” when parking downtown? have no problem walking a few steps but I understand that many might have difficulty.
So, yes and no. I guess it might depend on your business hours and physical ability. I’m not sure that area is really safe after dark–personally, I don’t walk very far alone downtown at night. On the on other hand, the one time I left a local restaurant shortly after 9:30, everyone in the place offered to escort me home (gotta love the local business owners). I’m not a coward nor am I a big person, but I pity the punk the who might have thought I was a patsy–I scream “fire” like a girl and pee myself when I feel threatened.
People want convenience. parking is considered a priority. when it’s raining or cold no body but the die hard’s want to walk. then there’s the handicapped. I refuse to accept handicapped status.
But I with so many others. can’t walk distances any more so close parking is important. so I don’t have a handicapped tag. so I just stay home.
One of my pleasures was prowling the antique shop’s of Haver De Grace. but not any more.
HDG Mayor Wayne Dougherty vetoed the proposed project that would’ve included new hotels, offices and retail development to Route 155 and Bulle Rock Parkway on December 15, 2008. Too bad because that project was a perfect economic catalyst that would’ve benefited HDG including downtown.
Wayne is too stupid to understand that the project he destroyed will forever impact retail growth and property tax revenues. Some useful idiots agreed with Wayno that by killing this project the development would move to downtown, it didn’t and it won’t.
HDG will never progress with Wayne Dougherty as mayor. I urge you to attend Wayne’s perpetual election campaign city council meetings…be forewarned you will leave embarrassed, tired and with fewer brain cells than you started with.