Expanded Testimony of Robert Bruce, given on 23 Jan 06

This is what I worked off for my testimony. It is lengthier than what I actually said. I dropped stuff that was redundant to the actual few points I needed to make to try to keep objections to a minimum and to keep Kahoe listening.

BACKGROUND. I have lived 30 years at my Millwood address. We settled because it appeared that nothing would change much nearby. We thought we were safely outside the development envelope, but find there is an end run build-into the Harford County regulations that allows a high density use construction in an AG zone without having to get into the Development Plan or even requiring rezoning. Now a 300 or 500 person school is planned, additive to the current tenants at 701 Whitaker Mill Road. It is not safe. It is not neighbor friendly.

I have the same concerns as everyone in my community:

TRAFFIC. I strongly believe that the traffic will be a nightmare. Whitaker Mill Road is already a “shortcut of choice” to bypass the mess in Bel Air. Traffic is growing fast enough. Added school traffic will cause a substantial safety hazard for local residents and for school students.

NOISE. We can hear the young kids at the Y summer camp as they play. The property is a natural bowl and sound carries far from there. Summer camp is only a few months and they are quiet by about 4 PM, so we don’t mind much. With the school, the existing tenants and all the other uses that HLS said they would encourage, it will go on all year, dawn to dusk. This site will be an attractive nuisance for all teenagers looking for a pick up game or a hangout.

ECOLOGY. The site will undergo extensive leveling to accommodate all the sports fields and the large proposed traffic circle. Walls, berms, and paved surfaces will dominate. Run-off patterns into the local stream will suffer.

Waste handling. We are all being charged to upgrade Maryland sewage plants to help clean the Chesapeake Bay. A new septic system should be required here, as we are adding 300-500 people to the current tenants. This new system should be state of the art, not just an old tank and drain field. I worry about power failure or pump failure causing stream pollution.

Light pollution will occur from building and parking lot security lights. This is harsh on immediate neighbors and annoying to all of us. You can read across Mountain Road by the lights on the parking lot of the Mountain Christian school.

Water consumption. We are all careful water consumers in the Whitaker Mill area. I am afraid that the school will put undue demand on the water table in our region, additive to that used by current site tenants.

PROPERTY VALUES. The sum of all the degradation to the safety and quality of life in the Whitaker Mill corridor will result in reduced property values for us all.

CONCLUSION. This property is among the worst agriculturally zoned places to put such a school. The roads will not support it. Numerous other AG sites have adequate roads and fewer immediate neighbors. Some have been identified in testimony. Must the county approve a special exception to the zoning if requested?

EXPANSION CONTROL. I am concerned about the potential lack of county control over an upgrade from 300 to 500 students, should the basic 300 level be approved. All site improvements being asked for at this hearing are designed for 500 students. What additional approvals will they need to request from the county? None for construction---just a change in occupancy permit from 300 students to the facility’s design level of 500 students. Maryland Dept. of the Environmental will need to approve the added water consumption over 5000 gallons. Both of these approvals would likely be automatic at staff level in some county & state offices. The request would not likely have to come before a hearing examiner. Yet, we must maintain the fiction that we are only dealing with a 300 student school.