The Annapolis-area community’s fight against the proposed Crystal Spring mega-development on Forest Drive continued on into spring, with a number of developments worth reporting.
- While Mayor Mike Pantelides said he wanted to preserve the entire 111-acre tract in its natural state, he would need the state and county to come up with the money. Neither entity came forward to help, with officials in each jurisdiction pointing to empty pockets. Hope remained, however, that public or some kind of land conservation funding was still a possibility.
- The Capital newspaper continued to publish a steady stream of guest columns and letters to the editor, overwhelmingly in opposition to the plan. One of the columns came from Fred Gregory, a retired Air Force Colonel, and astronaut and deputy administrator of NASA. Gregory, an African-American who lives near the proposed development, took strong issue with the property’s owner, saying she had promised neighbors it would not be exploited.
- The Crystal Spring Legal Defense Fund, financed by contributions from project opponents, was in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court March 24 to protest the procedure for appealing a development plan to the city’s Board of Appeals, the appointed body that reviews decisions regarding development in the city.
Representing Sierra Club member Forrest Mays and others with standing in the case, attorney Tom Demming argued that a forest delineation plan had been presented as final and thus was reviewable by the Board –- which had no right to refuse to hear opponents’ appeal.
The Capital’s story on the case, and an opportunity to contribute to the Legal Fund, can be found at www.crystalspringfacts.com. The site also offers an opportunity to host community presentations on the issue.
The $200-million project calls for 362 apartments and cottages, 126 townhouses, 52 nursing home rooms, more than 200,000 square feet of retail space and an 80-room hotel. It would destroy 50 acres of contiguous forest and, critics say, significantly worsen already-massive traffic problems on Forest Drive and connecting streets.