The nationally recognized Worcester County 2006 comprehensive plan took another debilitating hit during the August 7th Worcester County Planning Commission meeting. The commission, hog tied by outdated county zoning ordinances, approved a 46 lot subdivision bordering Shingle Landing Prong that will tie into another recently approved 126 lot subdivision adjacent to this waterway.

These two new subdivisions are poster child examples of how Worcester County has failed its citizens miserably by not implementing the 2006 Comprehensive Plan in a timely manner, because both subdivisions will be on individual septic systems.

Located in zones designated as E-1 under the old plan, these tracts are adjacent to and along waterways that are listed by the state of Maryland as 'severely impaired' for nutrient pollution. For a complete list of the Environmental Protection Agency's statistics for local bodies of water, click here.

The State has mandated that Worcester County must come up with a plan to reduce nutrient pollution to these waterways. Under the 2006 Comprehensive Plan the county took measures to prevent cluster subdivision of these lands in order to prevent installation of septic systems in these critical areas and help meet the state mandated requirements for 'allowable' nutrient pollution.

Under the 2006 Plan, the E-1 zoned parcels are to be re-zoned as A-1, or agricultural, in order to limit the number of lots that could be developed. Most of the county's E-1 zoned parcels are located close to shorelines in low lying areas that are prone to flooding and will be impacted by sea level rise in the future. It made sense to limit development in these areas and push the development inland to our newly designated 'growth zones.'

Due to the County's failure to rezone the E-1 areas and to update its zoning ordinances and sewer plans through full implementation the 2006 Comprehensive Plan, nearly 200 new septic systems will be installed along the St. Martins River watershed.

During the August 7th Planning Commission meeting, the attorney for the developer of Holland Point Farm took great pleasure in pointing out to the members of the Planning Commission that they had no choice but to allow the additional septic systems because current county zoning laws could not prevent this from happening. In the months to come we will witness a virtual 'run on the bank' of our precious resources, as property owners in the E-1 zoned areas of the county rush to get their site plans approved before the new zoning codes are implemented.

Without implementation of revised sewer plans, access to county wastewater treatment plants will remain limited and as these E-1 zoned parcels are subdivided we will continue to see more septic systems installed in low lying areas of the county that will be susceptible to flooding and sea level rise.

During the August 7th Planning Commission meeting, another warning shot was sent across the county's bow and flew by entirely unnoticed by the members of the Commission. Mr. Robert Mitchell, Director of the Worcester County Environmental Programs division, commented that 200 new septic systems will not impact the St. Martins River nearly as much as a 1,000,000 gallon a day wastewater treatment plant in Showell, MD.

Many of you will remember the old Perdue chicken processing plant in Showell. Although the plant is now closed and there has not been a discharge from that plant in many years, the discharge permit is still on the books. The County Commissioners have pledged to direct all new discharges in this county to land application. But at the state level, as I write this column, there is an effort to redefine what a 'new discharge' means and Shingle Landing Prong could very well find itself the recipient of not only 200 new septic systems but also a reactivated wastewater treatment plant for new development in Showell, Md.

It is time for the County Commissioners to implement our new Comprehensive Plan now, with no further delays.

Kathy Phillips, Assateague Coastkeeper

See the article and Blog on DelmarvaNow.com regarding this controversial subject.