Project foes out in force again

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Charles County Board of Zoning and Appeals decided to continue the hearing held Tuesday in La Plata until April 14 so that the board could review additional information that was submitted by opponents of the special exception. The hearing was originally held Feb. 24, but was continued until March 10 because not everyone who wanted to testify could do so before 10:30 p.m. when the building had to be locked.

About 200 people showed up for both hearings to mainly oppose granting the special exception that would allow WSG Holdings LLC to build a two-story facility on an 80-acre parcel off Liverpool Point Road. The land already contains a 2,400-foot grass runway for small-engine airplanes and four aviation support structures, said Sean Miller, the company's chief executive officer during the Feb. 24 hearing.

The company wants to operate a driving tactics range and a small-arms firing and research area, Miller said. He stressed during the hearing that there would be no testing, researching or storing of chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological materials on the site.

Researchers would use materials that simulate such agents during chemical and biological forensic investigations, he said.

A special exception is necessary to build and operate the facility because the land is in the agricultural conservation zone and has about 15 acres in a resource protection overlay zone to protect wetlands and streams on the property, said E. Scott Burroughs of Lorenzi, Dodds & Gunnill engineering firm in Waldorf. The number of acres in the RPZ is preliminary because it is based only on the project's concept plan, he said.

People who would live near the facility testified against granting the special exception for a variety of reasons, including the noise that would be generated from the site, how the operation would impact the environment and what it will do to surrounding property values.

During Tuesday's hearing, local attorney Kurt Wolfgang submitted mounds of evidence to the board for review that he said add weight to the opposition's testimony to not grant the special exception.

Board members also said that they wanted to take the time to visit the proposed site to get a close-up view of the area and an understanding of how the facility would operate.

Those who oppose the special exception said they were upset when John Buchanan, the board's attorney, told them that comments regarding the proposal that were submitted to the county electronically via e-mail could not be introduced into the record.

Buchanan said that the electronic testimony could not be accepted because the county cannot properly verify who actually sent them.

"It's bad that the county won't accept electronic submittals," said Nanjemoy resident Linda Wright. "I work for the federal government and everything we do is electronic."

"I'm so mad that the board wouldn't take the e-mail comments," said Mary Sandy of Nanjemoy. "I work for the federal government and I accept e-mails as a form of communication."

Wolfgang said that he was going to make a motion that asks the board to allow the record to be opened so that those who submitted testimony in e-mails could resubmit it in written form.

Hopefully, the additional time that the board is taking with the case will result in good news for those who live in Nanjemoy, Wolfgang said.

"It's very gratifying and it indicates that the board still has an open mind about this," he said.

"I'm glad that the hearing was continued," Sandy said. "It will give us additional time to get information together to give to the board."

Wright said that she hopes that the board will realize that opening such a research facility in Nanjemoy would be a mistake.

"The area just isn't appropriate for this," she said. "If they grant this special exception it would open up the whole county for this type of use. Everybody's going to want to jump on the bandwagon."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com