IMAGE FROM MEETING PACKET
An annexation plat shows the area considered by the Berlin Planning Commission last Wednesday. The commission voted unanimously to annex the property into town limits, a required step before Town Council consideration.
By Josh Davis, Associate Editor
(March 21, 2019) The Berlin Planning Commission easily approved a commercial annexation petition last Wednesday.
Commission members voted 6-0 to endorse annexing roughly six acres known as Athena Plaza, on Route 818 across from Berlin Main Place.
Peter Buas, an attorney with Williams, Moore, Shockley & Harrison, representing property owners Spiro and Mary Anne Buas, said the land is in the growth area and contiguous to lots already annexed into the town. Buas said he understood the commission was concerned about sprawl, but annexing the property would be more akin to backfilling.
He added before Athena Properties begins to develop the property, its representatives would come back before the commission for site plan approval.
No specific plans were discussed during the meeting, but Mayor Gee Williams said in a previous interview it was his understanding the development would include a convenience store similar to a Royal Farms, a hotel and two sites for restaurants.
A “property annexation proposal” attached to the meeting packet said total revenue to the town for the “partially developed” property would be $18,842, including $17,680 in property taxes based on the current rate.
An additional $151,008 in EDU fees is also expected, according to the plan. EDUs, or equivalent dwelling units, measure water consumption.
During a public hearing, resident Carol Rose said she endorsed the project.
“I’ve known Spiro and Mary Anne a long, long time,” she said. “I am highly in favor of [annexing the property].”
Additionally, Planning Director Dave Engelhart read into the record a letter from Davis Court resident Jeff Smith:
“There are now two annexations on the table which involve business development along the route 50 corridor. Both annexations involve a dramatic change in the composition and makeup of the town of Berlin that we call home. And both need to be addressed together as part of a broader plan for the growth of Berlin.
“The first petition, presented several months ago by Mr. [Ernie] Gerardi, claimed his petition needed to be approved before completion of a new comprehensive plan because, to quote him, ‘I won’t live two years.’ This second annexation proposal makes it even more imperative that this planning committee does what a planning committee is supposed to do: plan.
“Decisions like annexation must not be made on a case by case basis, but must take into account larger considerations, including but not limited to the size of the town, the town’s economic makeup, the will of the residents of the town, and the effect of these decisions on the heart of Berlin: it’s downtown businesses.
“There is a history of what business development outside of a downtown business district does to that downtown. Salisbury focused business development along route 13, which siphoned business from downtown. When a bypass was built, Salisbury’s downtown suffered a downturn from which it is still recovering. Pocomoke City developed big box stores on route 113, away from its downtown, and now downtown Pocomoke is a shell of its former self. Cambridge’s downtown endured a similar fate.
“We are at a crossroads, and the question is: how does Berlin want to proceed? Do we want to risk siphoning our locally owned downtown businesses in favor of business development on the route 50 corridor? Do we want Berlin to continue to be a cool small town, or do we want Berlin to be the next Salisbury? Or the next Pocomoke City?
“These are questions that justify being addressed by the whole town of Berlin. These are questions that deserve to be debated as part of a broader discussion of the future of Berlin. These are questions that warrant inclusion in a comprehensive plan.”
Commission member Pete Cosby said the annexation was a natural fit, and his only concern was that the town sooner or later addresses expanding Route 818. He compared the road to Route 589 in Ocean Pines, which Cosby said was never widened to accommodate growth until it was too late.
“This is a main access to the town,” Cosby said. “It needs safe pedestrian ways [and] it needs to be widened. Certainly, if you all do a convenience store or gas station, we’re going to need turnoff lanes and [to] expand the road out there.
“This needs to be put into the works and pressure be put on the state … to get this road right now, not after we come to the next annexation out here,” he added.
Commission member Ron Cascio agreed.
“This is a town that’s just now dealing growing pains,” he said. “I understand change is inevitable, [but] it’s what kind of change. And we’re here to, I think, try to control that change.”