Event Announcement

A Time to Turn the Tide and Protect our Watersheds

April 13, 2022 By Community Relations Manager

By Greg Bowen, ACLT Executive Director

Please come out to the County Commissioner’s public hearing on April 28th at 7:00 p.m. in the Harriet E. Brown Community Center. The Commissioners need support for their efforts to address residential density and land preservation.

These three zoning ordinance changes will apply to Prince Frederick and other towns. The proposed changes lower maximum density, require more land to be set aside for commercial use, instead of residential, and they require that more Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) be required as residential development occurs. These changes will preserve more land and reduce traffic. The changes also give notice to the Planning Commission what they will accept for Prince Frederick. Read more about the text amendments on the County’s website here: https://www.calvertcountymd.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=11754

We reported in a blog that during the citizen participation process for the Prince Frederick Plan, citizens have repeatedly expressed their opposition to high density growth and more traffic congestion. Despite citizen requests, consultants for the Planning Commission moved forward with an 80% expansion to the town center and 10,000 more housing units, a 400% increase in housing on highways that cannot accommodate the growth.

Calvert County’s planning consultant and some members of the Planning Commission just don’t seem to get it. Their draft plan fails to even begin to seriously address traffic congestion on MD 4 and MD 231, weakly pointing out as an excuse that traffic is worse in urban counties of the state. The July 2021 draft on page 7-4 goes so far as to abandon the well-established road “level of service” standards used by the Maryland State Highway Administration. The consultant has even proposed waving required traffic studies and excise taxes for residential development, thus making county taxpayers sit in traffic and pay for development that they don’t even want.

At ACLT we have noted in a blog that the expansion area is not suited for development. The soils and steep slopes are too severe. Further, the lands are needed to remain as forests, wetlands, and streams. They provide green infrastructure to a town with multiple failed stormwater management devices. Without these areas, our pristine creeks would be even more impacted.

A comprehensive assessment of resilient lands by The Nature Conservancy has revealed that Calvert County has more resilient lands than any other county in Maryland or even our Mid-Atlantic region. Over 70% of the total landmass exhibits certain characteristics that are necessary “for the survival of a wide diversity of species.” As we face ever bigger storms and floods, we need these natural lands.

It has been mentioned on several occasions that we need to create lots of housing in town centers due to the number of unsold TDRs in Calvert. Some say that there are as much as $40 million in TDRs to be sold from county agricultural preservation districts. However, a new report by Keep Calvert Country estimates that the new roads, schools, and public water and sewerage needed for the 10,000 new homes would cost the county $500 million. In addition, the county’s own Finance and Budget office estimated in 2019 that each new house in the town center would cost the county $2000 per year more in expenses than in revenues. In other words, those 10,000 new apartments that we don’t want will cost us an extra $20 million in operating costs per year.

The proposed changes are a great first step and I applaud the Commissioners for initiating the changes. At the same hearing, perhaps we should recommend that they tell the Planning Commission that the 80% expansion of Prince Frederick is dead on arrival too!

Attend Hearing or Submit Comments

Please come to help protect your quality of life and the environment. If you cannot attend, please contact the Commissioners by completing this form: https://www.calvertcountymd.gov/FormCenter/Contact-Us-Main-Homepage-8/Contact-Us-49

Just tell them that you support the proposed ordinance changes and you oppose the 80% expansion of Prince Frederick.

Other Important Meetings

Don’t forget to join Sustainable Calvert Network for their Rural Lands Forum!

Date: April 21, 2022
Time: 7-8:15 p.m.
Place: Jefferson Patterson Park Pavilion

Click here to read the Calvert County Times article.

Commissioner Public Hearing

April 26, 2022 – 10:30 a.m. Hearing Room, Courthouse & via Zoom

Re: Prince Frederick Wastewater Plant (What to Do With All the Poo)

Date: April 26, 2022
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Place: Commissioners Hearing Room & via Zoom

Take the Buy Local Challenge and Please Your Palate!

July 15, 2021 By Community Relations Manager

By Greg Bowen, Executive Director

This little green peninsula known as Calvert County is emerging as a local food paradise and summer is the time to experience it. Sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash and berries are in! There is also local beef, pork, and poultry from the land and seafood from the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay. And oh my, the food is fresh and tasty!

The French call it terroir, a term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop’s flavor or ‘phenotype’, including unique environment conditions, farming practices and a crop’s specific growth habitat. All together, these characteristics are said to create a unique taste. Drinks or foods that exhibit terroir include coffee, wine, tomatoes, heritage wheat, chilli peppers, and oysters.

Locally sourced foods seemed even more important than just great flavor last year, when store shelves emptied and were not replenished right away. It gave us all a taste of how fragile the global food chain can be in a pandemic or war where ships or planes stop flying-in the huge percentage of food that arrives from outside our nation’s borders. It added to the notion of food insecurity.

Have you ever noticed that a locally sourced food or drink tastes better grown here in Calvert than from any land or water source that you know?

Calvert County residents may not appreciate how lucky they are. In addition to farmers markets, roadside stands, and CSAs located throughout the county, we have Chesapeake’s Bounty which aggregates vegetables, meats, and seafood from the Chesapeake Bay region to supply foods still not produced in Calvert, like dairy products, apples, and specialty crops only suited to certain parts of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Year round, you can find food and drink to meet all of your dietary needs at their two locations: 6415 St Leonard Rd, St Leonard, MD and 9124 Bay Ave, North Beach.

If you want to “pick your own”, you must check out Swann Farms, located in Owings. They are currently offering pick-your-own blueberries and blackberries, as well as a full range of produce at their farmstand.

Chesapeake’s Bounty and Swann Farms are just two examples from the wide variety of local foods available in Calvert County. You can find nearly unlimited options for purchasing local foods on the County’s website here: https://www.calvertag.com/

Our ongoing event, Passport to Preservation, is a great way to “buy local”! Get your passport by registering here, get it stamped at one of the eight participating wineries and breweries, and enjoy discounts and the chance to win great prizes – all while supporting local agricultural-based businesses!

Take the Pledge and share your experience on our Facebook page! Tag it with #buylocalchallenge and you’ll be automatically entered to win an insulated tote bag to haul your local goodies in!

Bon appetit!

New ACLT Event: “Passport to Preservation”

July 29, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

Support ACLT & Local Agri-tourism Businesses ... and have some summer fun too!

For the entire month of August through Labor Day, ACLT is partnering with nine breweries and wineries in and nearby Calvert County for a fundraiser that emphasizes the need to support local agriculture-based businesses. All the businesses are locally owned; most, if not all, use local ingredients; and several of the participating wineries are located on permanently preserved agricultural land.

Participating Businesses:

Calvert Brewing Co., Upper Marlboro
Cove Point Winery, Lusby
Fridays Creek Winery, Owings
Greenspring Brewing Co., Delivery & Retail Only
Gypsy Brewing Co., Delivery & Retail Only
Mully’s Brewery, Prince Frederick
Ruddy Duck Brewery & Grill, Solomons
Running Hare Vineyard, Prince Frederick
Scorpion Brewing Co., Sunderland

Helping ACLT Achieve its Mission While Supporting Local Agriculture-Based Businesses

Part of ACLT’s mission is to promote land conservation and preservation throughout Southern Maryland and to “connect people to the land”. This event does just that. Supporting these local agriculture-based businesses is important now more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on most local businesses, many of whom will not survive. It is important that we show our support and help them get through this crisis.

Buy Local!

The “buy local movement” is a trend that is really taking hold and (hopefully) is here to stay. The advantages of buying local food also apply to beer and wine. Buying from local farmers and businesses that use local products is good for the local economy and good for the planet – consumers are getting fresher products that have traveled much shorter distances, while cutting down on the pollution and inefficient use of fossil fuels created by long-distance shipping. In addition, this event encourages participants to buy directly from the breweries and wineries, which gives the businesses a better return on their products.

How to Participate:

The event is simple: Registration is now open. The cost to participate is a $20 donation per person, with special pricing for new members. Upon registration, participants receive a passport and a unique passport #. They will then visit local breweries and wineries where they will enjoy discounts on beer and wine and have their “passport” stamped for the chance to win prizes at the end of the 5-week period. (The more places they visit and/or purchase beer and wine from, the greater their chances are of winning a prize.)

Participate from Home!

Those who are concerned about visiting the venues in person can purchase their beer and wine to-go or from local liquor stores and restaurants. Two of the participating breweries (Greenspring and Gypsy) will deliver directly to you! For at-home participants, they simply need to send us a picture of themselves enjoying the local beer or wine to get credit.

Two Free “Virtual” Concerts for Participants!

As an added bonus for participants, two local artists will perform private concerts in the event’s Facebook Group via Facebook Live and YouTube.

One of the performers, “Longman” Joseph Norris, is a St. Mary’s County native, and well known in Southern Maryland as a musician and singer. His performances include songs and storytelling about the history of Southern Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay region, and the lives of watermen and farmers. Joseph’s concert will be broadcast live from the barn at the north side trailhead and participants will have the option of attending the concert in person (socially distanced) if they choose.

The second performer, Dylan Galvin, performed at ACLT’s Sip & Save event last year. Dylan is a native Calvert Countian who is now building his career as a musician in Los Angeles and recently released a new music video featuring a cover of a popular song. Along with original music and covers of popular tunes, Dylan’s performance will include his original song “The Chesapeake”; a tribute to his youth spent growing up on the very land ACLT works so hard to protect.

Get Your Passport Now!

Please drink responsibly.