Public Decency At Issue
Editor:
I read Editor Steve Green’s missive on the flag controversy and the First Amendment. Sometimes, we must cut through the nonsense and simply speak our intuitive truth.
Some Supreme Court justices have done this.
For example, said one referring to a totally unfettered First Amendment, “You cannot falsely yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded movie house.” Which prompted Woody Allen to ponder, “Can we yell ‘Movie’ in a crowded firehouse? Another Justice observed, “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.”
Both of these comments have the ring of truth.
The Trump flag controversy does not. And like the justices, the problem isn’t easily solved with the law.
But it is solved by resorting to public decency, good taste and good manners — more informal but necessary social emollients.
Steve, I know as you continue to raise your public profile, you seek a diplomatic path. That’s understandable. But, this is about a subject, the preservation of American and global democracy, that is vital to so many facets of our already sadly eroded culture.
If I lie in bed wondering if my moral “cooperation” is destined to be overwhelmed by my accommodation of themes and forces that are ultimately destructive, the next day I must change my gameplan.
If I want to sleep or especially to me, like Serpico the cop, after he was shot in the face and permanently maimed, and a reporter asked him “Why did you report New York City Police corruption when you knew many of the police around you warned you you’d be killed?”
“Because,” said Serpico, “I’d never be able to enjoy listening to music again.”
Bob Carr
Willards
X
Developer’s Intentions Matter
Editor:
Isn’t it time for Mr. Todd Burbage to come clean and tell us what he intends to do with his Ayres Creek property if he gets the site reclassified to permit more intensive development?
On Oct. 30, as a panel from the Maryland Critical Area Commission prepared to meet in Snow Hill to gather public comments about removing the conservation protections for a 9-acre piece of his nearly 100-acre property, Mr. Burbage was whining in an email that no one has asked him what his plans are if the change is improved. The whining is unfounded. We’ve asked repeatedly.
The County Commissioners sitting at the time the reclassification proposal was initially considered declined to ask, even suggesting Mr. Burbage was not required to disclose any more than he wanted. They agreed he should be free of restraints limiting the use and development of the property. The restrictions were approved by a different County Commission in 2002, long before Mr. Burbage speculated he could get the conservation restrictions changed and bought the bankrupt former golf course.
At the Snow Hill hearing, Mr. Burbage’s attorney continued his efforts to massage the fact the County Commissioners in 2002 correctly agreed to designate the golf course property as a conservation area, deserving protection to help ease degradation of Ayres Creek and Newport Bay. The critical areas law grandfathered operating golf courses, including the golf club and other facilities, but Mr. Burbage’s attorney continues to obscure that fact citing what could be built under today’s regulations.
What also is being glossed over is that the change being requested would open the door to a commercial zoning change Mr. Burbage’s attorney already told the County Commissioners he would seek. With the reclassification, Mr. Burbage would not be limited to building one unit per 20 acres. On the 9-acres he wants reclassified, he could build 4 units per acre.
With the right zoning change, at least 36 of Mr. Burbage’s cozy cabins could be wheeled onto the site. Perhaps more if the County planners agree to call them “accessory” buildings, as they already have done on other portions of Mr. Burbage’s property.
Hugh T. Cropper IV, Mr. Burbage’s attorney, testified during the October 30 hearing that he doesn’t think the residents of South Point understand they live in an area that has the same development potential as Mr. Burbage’s proposed reclassification. We do understand. And even though the County planners don’t like our estate zoning, we do. Estate zoning protects our natural areas that filter stormwater and provide habitat for wildlife.
We also understand that Mr. Burbage will need to get the County to approve extending the sewer from Frontier Town or a new Lewis Road connection so he can develop the Ayres Creek property more intensely.
Mr. Burbage’s earlier proposal to put 300 campsites on the property failed miserably. But with a little help from his friends on the County Planning Commission, I wouldn’t rule out that Mr. Burbage plans to put a cozy cabin development like Shore Point on the southern gateway to the national seashore. With sewer, maybe even Royal Farms will come along and propose locating at the Assateague Road intersection when the new traffic light is installed. Only Mr. Burbage knows.
Stephen Katsanos
South Point