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Annexation proposals coming soon

Planning commission mtg. last Wednesday previewed two likely upcoming cases

Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Feb. 21, 2019) Two annexation requests are likely to come before the Berlin Planning Commission next month, and one member said he would not vote for either unless certain safety standards are met.

Berlin Planning Director Dave Engelhart last Wednesday said the IG Burton Chevrolet dealership on Old Ocean City Boulevard is in county limits, but ownership wants it to be part of Berlin.

“It really should’ve been in town all along,” Engelhart said. “They want to get in town limits to get on our water and sewer. That’s the benefit to them.”

Engelhart said Ernie Gerardi also wants to see his property at the corner of Old Ocean City Boulevard and Route 50 annexed into town. The Town Council in October voted 4-1 to add three parcels of land to the town growth map, seen as a first step in the annexation process.

According to Engelhart, “That annexation would be ostensibly for a development that would have a hotel and a convenience store, and two pad sites probably for restaurants.”

“We’re working on those at the town level. If everything goes well … you [would] take all the information in and you [would] make a recommendation to the mayor and council that you favor annexation or not,” he said.

If everything pans out, Engelhart said the March 13 planning commission meeting would include public hearings on both items. The mayor and council would then schedule a second set of public hearings prior to holding a final vote.

Commission member Pete Cosby asked if there were any plans to extend the sidewalk along North Main Street, from Cheers to Route 50.

“That’s just a really bad area for bicycles and pedestrians,” Cosby said. “If we’re going be annexing and building all the way out there, it’s really time to get serious about [safety].”

Engelhart said sidewalks in the area were probably an eventuality, but added, “As far as I know, there isn’t a sidewalk plan that says we’re gonna do that in fiscal year 2020.”

“State highway usually requires it. If there’s new development, they may put in sidewalks,” he said.

Cosby asked, “How long is it going to take?”

“That road is narrow. You can’t ride a bike safely out there. You can’t walk it as a pedestrian,” Cosby said. “I just think the time has come to prioritize that … if we’re going to see annexation and start seeing things come in, we need to do something to get aggressive about that.”

Engelhart said state highway could be convinced to create a shoulder along the roadway.

“I can bring it up. As a matter of fact, we have a meeting … on the 19th, Tuesday, at state highway’s office in Salisbury. And it’s to talk about the changes they’re going to make to Old Ocean City Boulevard by the hospital,” Engelhart said. “I can bring this up, because they may or may not be aware of this … potential development yet.

“My sense is they would be aware of it, but they’re waiting for us to come to them,” he continued. “I can talk to their access management person, for SHA … I’ll mention it to them and see where we go.”

Cosby encouraged Engelhart to “plant the seed wherever you can.”

“I really hesitate to want to annex out there without an adequate road. I think that road is going to become more and more of a problem. I think we need to widen it, get some turn lanes, I don’t know,” he said.

“We don’t need another [Route] 589 failure – and that is a 589 out there,” he continued. “It’s just like 589 was. They should’ve gotten it right back in 1985. I was saying it back then and they never did it.

“You cannot safely ride a bike from Gumpoint Road to Route 50 – that’s why the kid got killed a few months ago … because there’s nowhere to ride a bike,” Cosby said. “That’s my speech for the night … if we’re going to annex up there, it’s time to fix that road.”