KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND
COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S

PUBLIC HEARING - 06/15/2004

Applications for Agricultural Land Preservation District

June 15, 2004

A Public Hearing was held on Tuesday, June 15, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. in the County Commissioners' Hearing Room, County Government Center, Chestertown, Maryland, for the purpose of discussing applications submitted for the voluntary creation of an Agricultural Land Preservation District on the applicants' properties.

County Commissioners Roy W. Crow, Scott D. Livie, and William W. Pickrum were in attendance as well as Susanne Hayman, County Administrator, Gail Owings, Director of Planning and Zoning, and the following applicants: Marian Fry, Patricia A. Langenfelder, and Jennifer Debnam Langenfelder, who identified herself as representing the Langenfelder Family.

This hearing was pursuant to Agricultural Article 2-509 (3) of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

Notice of the public hearing was read into the record by Commissioner Pickrum.

At the April 2004 meeting of the Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board and at the May 6, 2004 meeting of the Planning Commission, recommendations for approval were made for the following applicants to create an agricultural land preservation district:

- Ed and Marian Fry on their 164-acre farm located on Augustine Herman Highway in the 3rd Election District near Chestertown;

- Langenfelder Family Limited Partnership on their 491-acre farm located on Still Pond Road between Big Woods and Kennedyville, in the 2nd Election District;

- Conrad and Patricia Langenfelder on their 56-acre parcel located on Blacks Station Road and a 210-acre parcel located on Augustine Herman Highway in the 2nd Election District;

- Herschell B. Claggett, Sr. on his 144.6-acre farm located on Rock Hall Road (Route 20) near Edesville, in the 5th Election District.

At the June 2, 2004 meeting of the Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board and at the June 3, 2004 meeting of the Planning Commission, recommendations for approval were made for the following applicants to create an agricultural land preservation district:

- John C. Sutton, III and Beverley Philipp on their 197 -acre farm located on Lambs Meadow Road (MD. Route 298) and Turners Creek Road in Kennedyville, in the 2nd Election District;

- Alan J. Hill, Henry Jay Hill, and Beverly Hill Jones on their 159.419-acre farm located on Browntown Road and MD Route 298 in Kennedyville, in the 2nd Election District.

Commissioner Pickrum invited any one to testify for or against the applications.

Marian Fry, Pat Langenfelder, and Jennifer D. Langenfelder spoke to emphasize their commitment to preserve the agricultural heritage of the County. Commissioner Crow praised their commitment, describing the property represented by their respective applications as "prime farmland."

There was no one in the audience who wished to speak against these applications for submission to the Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation.

Mrs. Owings reported the decision of the Planning Commission that all of the applications met the criteria for the creation of an agricultural land preservation district and that all pertinent properties were identified as critical to the continuance of agriculture in the County.

A motion was made by Commissioner Crow, seconded by Commissioner Livie, and made unanimous by Commissioner Pickrum to recommend approval of the applications as submitted to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation. As recommended by the Planning Commission, the application submitted by Mr. Claggett was approved by the Commissioners with the condition that a proposed adjustment of lot lines to be completed prior to district establishment.


This hearing was taped for reference and adjourned at 9:45 a.m.


THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF KENT COUNTY, MARYLAND


Janice F. Fletcher
Executive Assistant


Approved: William W. Pickrum, President