OPINION
My opponent has acted as chair of the Howard County Council/Zoning Board many times during his twelve years in office. His major problem is that he will not say no to the developers. He has amended the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) to meet developer requirements too many times to figure. He has allowed builders to pay Howard County impact fees roughly one third less than surrounding jurisdictions receive. My friend has negotiated numerous Tax Increment Financing (TIF) schemes that fund wealthy builder projects using free tax payer dollars created via taxpayer debt.
The Howard County Executive through his office and my opponent appear to be working as a team particularly around development issues. The Kittleman/Ball Team lacks expertise and understanding of the adverse impact of forest destruction, replaced with high density housing. The result, twice seen in the past couple of years, has been over flowing rain water runoff leading to severe intense flooding flowing down grade.
Last year, the Maryland General Assembly said no to a bill that would have required a one-for-one replacement of every tree cut down by developers. Activists struggled to protect “priority” forests, the largest tracts being deemed the most ecologically valuable. The Assembly produced a study that found, despite the protections offered by a 1991 law, the most heavily forested tracts in Howard County continue to be destroyed by development.
Monies potentially required to correct the underlying environmental damage related to rapid dense growth, as well as rebuilding Main Street, Ellicott City, will negatively impact other infrastructure projects going forward. This second Ellicott City flood was likely exacerbated by our same elected and appointed officials’ knee jerk permissiveness toward developers and rapid growth.
According to the Columbia Flyer’s Flood Digest “…Developers submitted more than 100 proposals to build homes, shopping centers and other buildings in less than three square miles around Ellicott City between 2001 and 2016, and most were approved.”
The taxpayers, the electorate, will have a chance to hold their representatives accountable for their actions on June 26, 2018.
Harry Dunbar
Howard County Resident
Note: Harry Dunbar is a Democrat running for the office of County Executive in Howard County.