In recent weeks, a letter campaign has been afoot, criticizing St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners and two local developers, The Bay Net learned from official records.

The letters question not only the property rights of two local developers, Guy Curley and John Parlett, but also target the entire Board of County Commissioners for a decision one commissioner claims they have not yet made.

Leonardtown Councilman Thomas Collier initiated a dozen ditto letters of protest sent to the commissioners. Commissioner Dan Raley (D. Great Mills) told The Bay Net Collier was gravely misinformed and the letter was “poorly drafted.”

On Tuesday, as former county attorney John Norris sat in the back of the room, judiciously studying the proceedings of the Board of County Commissioners, Land Use and Growth Management Director Denis Canavan made an impassioned plea to the commissioners to adopt the recommendation of his department.

The source of contention? The Navy’s has requested no new housing be allowed in the APZ-2 as the aircrafts, like the Joint Strike Force, get bigger and heavier and the associated noise pollution gets louder.

“The staff reviewed the appropriate zoning maps and determined there are approximately 1,100 acres covered by the APZ-2 Zone,” Canavan reported to the commissioners. He pointed out there are approximately 700 dwelling units in the APZ-2.

Though the Navy’s main concern is residential uses, as many as ten zoning districts fall within the APZ-2, Canavan’s report showed. The report provides the categorizations and break-up of acreage in each of the different districts as follows:

John Norris, former St. Mary's County Attorney, silences his cell phone as commissioners deliberate on Canavan recommendation.

RPD (Rural Preservation District) 38.4 acres

RL (Residential, Low Density District) 495.3 acres

RH (Residential High Density) 6.9 acres

RNC (Residential Neighborhood Conservation District) 73.7 acres

RMX (Residential Mix Use District) 9.4 acres

DMX (Downtown Mixed Use District) 146 acres

CMX (Corridor Mixed Use District) 4.6 acres

CC (Corridor Commercial District) 0.2 acres

OBP (Office Business Park District) 273 acres

I (Industrial District) 8.6 acres

The 700 homes are primarily located in the subdivisions of Essex South, Emerald Hills, Southampton, Forest Heights, Patuxent Park, Greens at Hilton Run and Southwoods and “with scattered family homes that are not within recorded subdivisions.”

In one of the subdivisions the county laws do not apply, Canavan’s report bared. “A single subdivision known as Glen Forest is on land owned by the Federal Government and is exempt from zoning regulations.”

“Staff notes that the Board of County Commissioners has authorized staff to prepare a text amendment that would provide for residential uses in the OBP Zone,” Canavan’s report states.

In fact, this is the main bone of contention, inciting the flurry of letters opposing the potential approval of any homes or condos near Route 235 at Hermanville Road.

“This proposed development is too close to the flight patterns and operations of the Naval Air Station Patuxent River and could possibly jeopardize my family’s livelihood,” Collier claims in his letter.

Collier says he has worked for the base and the Navy for 31 years and has watched the slow encroachment take place around the base. “If this development around the base is allowed to continue, we will see the base be forced to leave, resulting in the loss of many jobs in this county,” Collier warns.

Collier’s sentiment was echoed by at least four others, M.P. Guy, Helen Williams, Becky Schaefer and Carolyn Johnston, who sent similar letters to the commissioners, asking them not to make a decision that could undermine the future of the base and the work it does for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corp.

Authors of the scathing letters dubbed the zoning amendment “Guy Curley and John K. Parlett’s proposed development.” The suggestion the two local developers have some kind of a common business venture, is an erroneous one, according to those involved.

In addition, the letters of protest state: “The proposal by our county staff was for zero homes and you should have voted to accept the recommendation of our staff. They are not your staff, they are the citizen’s staff of this county and you should have accepted their proposal.”

However, Curley drew a blank when asked about those opposing his Glazed Pine development project. He said he and Parlett do not have any joint venture on Route 235 and Hermanville Road. “I have not seen the letters, so I can not comment [on their content],” Curley told The Bay Net.

Curley, who is himself a member of the Navy Alliance, said he has voluntarily made drastic changes in his proposed plans and has already removed all homes from the APZ-2.

According to Raley, “the gentleman” (Collier) seems to be misinformed, and to have based his judgment on the contents of a public notice. “We have not decided anything yet,” Raley maintains.

“I and the rest of the board of county commissioners are going to do what’s right for the Pax River,” Raley told the Bay Net. “But at the same time, people have property rights and those have to be respected,” he added, pointing out that decisions have to go through a due process.

“The issue is set for a public hearing and we are going to go from there,” Raley concluded.

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