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I don’t generally share private conversations publicly, but I think Nathan Volke would be ok with you knowing that he texted the words, “Tough night,” to me on Monday night at 10:43.
That was after Bill 61-26, the update to the zoning code that I’ve written about in the last two weekly letters, was voted down 7-0 by the County Council. Councilman Volke worked hard to get that outcome, and he’s entitled to celebrate his win.
The next morning, I called my Chief of Staff and asked if we had any press inquiries yet. “Yes,” she said. “Just The Banner, so far.”
“We need to own this,” I said. “We should tell them that we simply failed to do the community engagement that a zoning bill of this complexity requires. I should have known better.”
So that’s what we told the Banner, and it’s what I’ve been telling everyone who asks.
Councilman Pete Smith was the first of the Democrats to vote no. He preceded his vote by saying that our administration was known for extensive community engagement, and that it was a hallmark of our budget process and our comprehensive rezoning bills. He said that this bill needed that level of work so that people would understand what was in it. Similar points were made by other Council members from both political parties. They all said the bill was well-intentioned and needed to happen in the future. I agree with them.
I texted Pete the next morning and thanked him, “For the kind words before the hard vote.” He thanked me, and followed up with a call.
I could point a lot of fingers in a lot of directions on this one, particularly at Volke’s friends and donors at the Commercial Real Estate Development Association who were the first to call for killing the bill. There’s also a lot of thanks to go around, especially for the monumental load of work done at Office of Planning and Zoning responding to hundreds of specific questions from individual residents who were left scratching their heads after seeing social media statements that were factually wrong.
Or I could carry on about the negative consequences of leaving our zoning code as it is, and forcing our businesses, residents, and staff to continue paying attorneys to argue over the meaning of a law that has 400 flaws in it that resulted from twenty years of legislative sausage-making.
Dwelling on those things makes me feel righteous about my opinion, but no good comes of it.
Instead, I want the lesson for all sides to be that no matter how smart you think you are, or how much power you think you have, we live in a democracy, and those who engage the most generally win. Organizing - or community engagement - is what matters.
It’s true for legislators. It’s true for advocates. And it’s even true for the government.
After all of the progress we made as an administration by doing community engagement, it’s probably a healthy thing to re-learn this lesson with a loss at the last County Council meeting. It will be fresh in the minds of the next Council and next administration as they take another pass at this effort in the future.
On a happier note, I spent a glorious morning Tuesday at what is now being called Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Area. I wrote a Capital editorial that Mayor Gavin Buckley signed on to in 2021 calling on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) to either open the property up for public access or transfer it to an entity that would. We were passionate about the topic, because the land had been purchased by the state of Maryland with public funds and transferred to CBF with a public access requirement. It’s a former Thoroughbred breeding and training farm with the best view of the Bay Bridge, the best trees, the best freshwater pond, and the best biodiversity anywhere in our county.
In 2024, the CBF, under the leadership of Executive Director Hilary Harp Falk, transferred the land to Maryland DNR, under the leadership of Secretary Josh Kurtz. We celebrated the transfer with Governor Moore, and that was a great day for public water access. But before opening the site to the public, there was work to be done.
That work is well underway, and Secretary Kurtz announced this week that a public reservation site will open next month, and that by next summer there will be a new dock from which boaters, and eventually a small ferry from Sandy Point State Park, can access the property with no vehicle traffic impact.
The main house is being renovated, the freshwater pond is being protected from saltwater intrusion, beaches are being preserved, and walking paths are being maintained.
Neighbors aren’t always fans of public water access efforts, but progress is underway nevertheless, with acquisitions, infrastructure, events, and boat access at Holly Beach Farm, Annapolis City Dock, Londontowne, Fort Smallwood, Galesville, Quiet Waters Retreat, South River Farm Park, Beverly Triton Nature Park, and elsewhere. Connecting our people with nature is essential for our physical and mental health, and doing it well grows our commitment to protecting the environment that sustains us. Water draws us to nature in a powerful way, and I’m so glad that our state and local governments are creating these opportunities.
Until next week…