Say "NO" to Zoning Change Request Adjacent to SDNEA!
Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc., the Friends Group for Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, is strongly opposed to a zoning change request by Rockdale Towing Company to expand its commercial/industrial footprint onto land adjacent to the northern side of our sensitive habitat.
Why it matters: Soldiers Delight NEA is a State Wildlands which was created to protect its rare ecosystem. It is home to more than 30 rare, threatened, and endangered species, some of which are globally rare. SDCI is concerned about the effects any such change in zoning could have on Soldiers Delight NEA and would expect that any such proposal be preceded by an environmental impact review study to ensure that there are no immediate or future deleterious direct or indirect impacts to Soldiers Delight NEA from any type of business or industry that could occupy this site going forward.
SDCI is also concerned about allowing such zoning changes outside of the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line (URDL), and the precedent that such changes would set. The URDL has served to protect our increasingly scarce and valuable rural areas since 1967, by concentrating heavy development into those areas which can best support it (via construction of water and sewer lines, etc.). The URDL has worked extremely well over the years to protect Soldiers Delight NEA from various development and its repercussions.
We strongly recommend that the Baltimore County Council adhere to the final Baltimore County Planning Board staff recommendations to oppose the change and maintain the current resource conservation rural residential (RC-5) zoning.
Ways to Get Involved: You can lend your voice to the zoning change opposition by sending a letter to your Baltimore County councilmember to tell them you are opposed to Baltimore Planning Board Issue 4-017. You can also sign the Change.org petition. And you can attend a community hearing at 6:00 p.m. on August 20 at the Owings Mills branch of the Baltimore County Public Library. Please help!
