Last night, the shopping center development plan for Route 480 was resubmitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Substantial changes were made to the plan and what is to be built will complement Ridgely's rich architectural heritage. The new proposal was approved and fits into the same footprint for the shopping center which was approved last spring. It has a porch and cupolas and will be one of the best buildings on this entrance into Ridgely. For those of you who are wondering, it won't have dormers. The dormer issue was much misrepresented by some, and, dormers were only one of many architectural devices that could be used to bring new Rt. 480 buildings into harmony with the rest of our town.
How many of you have passed through Kent Island and asked yourselves, how did this overdeveloped commercial eyesore come to exist? To the Planning Commission, the state of the Kent Island Rt. 50 commercial strip is a cautionary tale. It is why we are working hard to make our highway commercial strip(Rt. 480)an integral part of town instead of the type of chaotic commercial sprawl that blights too many of our American communities.
The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and Ed McMahon have provided us with much information and inspiration in our efforts to keep Ridgely the beautiful community that it is. Their work is a much needed antidote for those communities struggling to hold the line against place destroying sprawl. As the late Commissioner Jare Wallace used to frequently say (while attending our Planning and Zoning meetings), "either you design your community or the developers coming here will". Words of wisdom which we have taken to heart over the last 10 years.
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