From the office of Harford County Councilman Mike Perrone, Jr.:
There have been several concerns raised about the timing and the location for the Community Input Meeting scheduled for August 24, 2015, at the Edgewood Library. Several options were evaluated, and it was determined it would be in the best interest of the community to reschedule the Community Input Meeting.
The Community Input Meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 6:00 PM. The new location is The EPICenter at Edgewood, located at 1918 Pulaski Highway, Edgewood, MD.
Councilman Perrone, Councilman Beulah and members from the Hope for the Homeless Alliance will be available at the Edgewood Library on Monday, August 24, 2015, at 6:00 PM to informally answer questions about the proposed project.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please call Donna Blasdell at 410-638-4109 ext. 1813.
try making this meeting on a weekend so ACTUAL WORKING PEOPLE CAN ATTEND
6:00 pm is a little tough for some folks who are coming from work. If you need to do this during a work day at least schedule the meeting 7:00 or 7:30
I used to work in Owings Mills until 4PM or later. I could have made a 6 PM meeting barring an unusual traffic situation. I think 6 PM is reasonable.
Perrone and his fellow elites don’t want us working people there, just the do-gooders who support this (but don’t live within ten miles of the proposed site) and some homeless rabble to look pathetic.
The reason given by Councilman Perrone is again a misrepresentation of the truth.
Residents were not given the legally required 2 week notice for the Community Input Meeting.
That’s why the “official” meeting has been cancelled.
My understanding is that councilman and his staff will still be at the library at 6pm monday to take input for the community.
Why is it so hard to tell the truth?
He’s a politician; they can’t tell the truth.
Mr. Szczybor,
The decision to postpone the meeting and change the location was in the works before the error in the notification was brought to our attention, whether you chose believe it or not.
I want to remind everyone, the people involved are volunteers and are not “professional” developers and errors were made in the process. The Edgewood Library Branch was originally chosen because it was a public location, which was close to the proposed site. The library meeting room holds 125 people, and historically, Community Input Meetings have very few people turn out, so the meeting room size was thought to be large enough.
As more people were expressing interest and concerns, Mr. Wilson was looking for a site which could accommodate a larger number of people. During this process, the Council Office received an email from the property owner informing us of the error in the notification dates. Discussions with Department of Planning and Zoning let us know the meeting could still be held on Monday, but a second meeting would need to be scheduled. Instead, Mr. Wilson and the Hope for the Homeless Alliance made the decision to postpone the meeting.
Thankfully The EPICenter at Edgewood is allowing Journey to New Hope and the Hope for the Homeless Alliance to have the Community Input Meeting at their location on September 16, 2015. The EPICenter space can accommodate up to 500 people, so space hopefully will not be an issue for this meeting.
Mr. Wilson, members of the Hope for the Homeless Alliance, and the Councilmembers will be at the Library on Monday, August 24, 2015 for several reasons. The first is make sure someone is there to greet members of the community who may not have heard of the postponing of the meeting. The second reason is to provide the information for the new meeting date and location. Finally, they will answer questions about the project for those people who may show up to the library.
Ms. Bladsoe,
The link stating the LEGAL requirements for the community input meeting is listed here on Planning and Zoning’s Website http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/PlanningZoning/index.cfm?ID=31 . As I stated, the proper notifications were not given to the public.
Since Councilman Perrone is not familiar with the LEGAL requirements, I have posted the webpage below. If he is familiar with these requirements, then it’s clear he attempted to circumvent the Legal process. Which is is it? Incompetent or intentionally trying to deceive the public? Fortunately “The Dagger” reported this story and the citizens of the community were not blindsided. Nonetheless, your post as a representative of Councilman Perrone again is another attempt to mislead the public and put “political spin” on his project.
HARFORD COUNTY COMMUNITY INPUT MEETING REQUIREMENTS
“WHEN ARE COMMUNITY INPUT MEETINGS REQUIRED:
Prior to submission of a concept plan, preliminary plan or site plan for any developments generating 250 or more trips per day, as determined by the most recent version of the I.T.E. Trip Generation Manual, or determined to be a nontransient noncommunity water system, the developer must hold a community meeting. The purpose of the community meeting is for the developer to provide information to the community regarding the proposed development and to allow citizens to ask questions and make comments and suggestions. At the meeting, the developer shall present draft plans for the site layout.
WHERE and WHEN TO HOLD COMMUNITY INPUT MEETINGS:
Meetings must be held near the site of the proposed development preferably in a public or institutional building with adequate parking. The meeting shall be scheduled to start between 6 pm and 8 pm on weekday evenings, or between 9 am and 5 pm on a Saturday. The meeting shall not be scheduled within 5 calendar days before or after, a federal holiday.
ADVERTISING, NOTIFICATION and PROPERTY POSTING:
At least 2 weeks prior to the community meeting, the developer shall ensure that notice of the date, time and location of the community meeting, as well as information about the type of subdivision including the proposed number of units has been provided to the following:
• All adjoining property owners identified in the records of the State Department of Assessment and Taxation, by first class mail;
• The Department of Planning and Zoning (meeting notice will be posted on P&Z’s website); and
• The County Council.
At least 2 weeks prior to the community meeting, the developer shall ensure that notice of the community meeting is published once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in at least 2 newspapers generally circulated in Harford County.
The developer shall ensure that the property which is the subject of the proposed development, is posted with a notice (sign) obtained from the Department of Planning and Zoning. The developer must use reasonable efforts to maintain the notice in a condition visible to the public until the date of the community meeting. The sign must:
• State the date, time and location of the community meeting;
• Include a brief description of the proposed development, specifying the type of subdivision and number of proposed units;
• Include the Department of Planning and Zoning’s website address;
• Be conspicuously placed on the property near the right of way line of each public road that the property has frontage on at such location that the notice shall be visible, if possible, from each public road on which the property fronts; and
• Be at least 2 feet by 3 feet.
AFTER THE MEETING IS HELD:
Developers must include certification that meeting notices were mailed, certification of the newspaper advertisements, and a summary of comments made by citizens at the community meeting with the preliminary or site plan when it is submitted to the County.
If the developer does not submit a preliminary plan or site plan to the Department of Planning and Zoning within 1 year of the community meeting, OR if the plan submitted is substantially different from the plan presented at the community meeting, another community meeting and notification as specified in the Subdivision Regulations will be required.”
Again, It’s clear the proper procedures were not followed by Councilman Perrone, who is clearly advising Mr. Wilson That is why the “official” meeting has been postponed and an “unofficial” meeting is being held at 6pm Monday August 24th. If Councilman Perrone needs any additional help regarding legal requirements, please let me know. He may also want to read about the fiduciary responsibility of an elected official to his constituents. Last I checked, we live in a democratic republic where officials are suppose to represent the voters in their district, NOT religious organizations.
Please let me know if you need any additional clarifications.
I’ll be glad to help.
Ron for the sake of your pathetically ugly building and business man let it go. Want to help Edgewood? Clean up your own nasty mess.
Sammy,
I saw the words in your post pathetically ugly and I thought your were calling me.
Please stay away from the prostitutes tonight and no hanging out with cdev and harford oldtimer!
Hope to see you sober tonight,
You’re pathetically ugly wife (not to be confused with your mother)
I’m gay, peter puffer
How is it clear exactly? I didn’t see where you stated specifically what the violation was? I’m not doubting there was one, but It’s not clear at all from your comments what it was…
It was posted 2 weeks before the meeting, because I found out about it on the 10th, so that’s not the problem. It’s not within 5 days of a Federal holiday, as far as I can tell.
So I’m left assume, unless you are specific, that either it didn’t make it into the paper, the signs weren’t posted on the property, or the neighbor’s notices were provided in a timely fashion or included incorrect information.
And just so you know, this has happened before. It’s not like this is the only CIM that’s ever been rescheduled. Some of them because they didn’t get it into the paper in time, some just because they expect more people to show up and have to relocate the meeting– that’s exactly why there’s a required advance notice.
And, nobody was going to be able to “sneak” anything past the public because if it was discovered that the requirements weren’t met at some later point, they would be required to go back to the beginning and start with a CIM, propose a whole new plan, etc.
If you’re going to be so accusatory as to say somebody is trying to do something illegal, you need to state specifically what they did– that’s called due process. And by doing it in public you’re getting close to slander.
And you really have to give the people some credit for deciding to show up tonight anyway, because it would be really easy to just post a sign and call it a night. Instead, they apparently are ready to take a brow beating from strangers twice.
Sam,
Great post!
It shows everyone what type of people are associated with passing the project.
Please continue.
Ron
I called the Planning and Zoning to ask why this meeting is not on the main calendar – it has not been formalized as a plan, so it is posted on their Community Information Meeting calendar – a different calendar. Not a violation, but Ron, you sound like a very concerned citizen. Glad you do your homework. Keep up the good research. I also research the background of stories. There is a lot of sniping back and forth here that gets in the way of real information, so I hope that doesn’t happen at the meetings. I will be bringing my questions to the first meeting, so I hope to see you there.
/Serendipity Rules
Did a contractor repossess the asphalt on Route in Riverside? Love how they ground down 3″ or so, and have just left it, for days now.
This place sucks, they constantly pave roads that don’t need it where as others need it.
I assume you mean Route 40, since you didn’t specify what Route you were talking about. I know someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the State of Maryland is responsible for maintenance of US40 and that Harford County has little to no control over any decisions made on that, including scheduling. While there is a great number of things to find fault with about how HCG does its business, I don’t think this is one of them.
Who cares? state, local, county roads? They’re all the same way of thinking when it comes to money.
Who’s idea was it to replace 1 bridge for 3 months one year then replace the other one 1000 feet away the next year? Could have done both at the same time
It’s possible the two bridge projects were staggered to ensure reasonable and timely access for emergencies. People could end up dying waiting for an ambulance to reroute 15 minutes around…or an entire house be consumed by fire.
Nah. Both route 7 bridges are within 1/4 mile of each other, one you make a left from 136 and the other you make a right on 136.
Abingdon VFD would still have to go down Hookers Mill to 136 whether the Restaurant or the 3/4 homes in that stretch had a call for service.
Abingdon also reopened “HOUSE 2” Iin Long Bar Harbor a few months prior to the first bridge being worked on, as one reason.. Route 7 to Riverside was, uh, closed.
Well, route 7 was open to 136 last year coming from Abingdon, but that still doesn’t necessarily mean emergency crews would go that way.
What’s being compared is that in 2014 you couldn’t drive down route 7 to get to Riverside, but one was able to make a left hand turn onto Route 136.
This year you can’t get to Riverside driving down Route 7, and you cant get to 136 either.
People coming from Riverside can get to 136 this year. People last year could not get to 136 from Riverside via Route 7.
The logic was that now, the Fire Dept has to go down Hookers Mill to 136 to Route 7 to access the Restaurant/Bar, a few house and a salon where as last year they could go that way, or down Route 7.
Do you understand The Money Tree?
There’s a fire house in Long Bar Harbor (as stated) to access Riverside “box” or whatever they call it faster than main station.
Don’t have a dog in the fight just throwing out potential reasons why it might make sense. K…
Wow! The Epicenter at Edgewood. Good for them. Except if I were them I would have the HCSO assign some deputies to keep order.
Oh, and by the way, a question for Mr. Szczybor “Will you be helping to underwrite the expense of getting space at the Epicenter?” Have you personally or your business financially supported the Epicenter? If not, why not? Or are they on your poop list also?
Why should he underwrite a nickel off their expense . It’s a church so they don’t pay taxes anyway.
Amen.
New Journey of Hope Ceases Efforts to Develop Edgewood Homeless Shelter
http://www.daggerpress.com/2015/08/27/new-journey-of-hope-ceases-efforts-to-develop-edgewood-homeless-shelter/
Perrone said he wants faith-based communities to lead projects such as this to help the homeless and not the county. Perrone said that he does not know much about New Journey of Hope other than that the group wanted to provide a more permanent shelter for the county’s homeless population and appeared to have a willing seller of the proposed site in Edgewood.