Planning Commission to hear Site Plan Application
UPDATE: 02/27/2024. A remarkable last-minute announcement that Planning Commission Chair Mark Nixon resigned from the Commission yesterday afternoon, halted any further action on the application: the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for last night was cancelled, ostensibly by Town Manager Rick Pollitt. No clear reason was provided to the Commissioners. Although Commissioner John Gilliland reportedly had been emailing the other Commissioners over the weekend urging them to vote to allow the preliminary plan to move forward.
As of 3:45 this afternoon, there is no plan presently to re- schedule the Commission meeting.
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UPDATE: 02/07/2024 Planning Commission tables the application by Dollar General (represented by Howard Crossan of Oxford Chase) due to a lack of information, and an opportunity to review the application thoroughly.
Citing a limited amount of clear information from the applicant, and a limited amount of time with the application, Planning Commissioner Chase Phillips made a motion to table the application for up to 30 days. Commissioner John Gilliland seconded the motion, and all five Commissioners voted to postpone action on the application. Crossan asked to speak again prior to the vote, and was clearly agitated. He asked the Commission if he would be sitting around for thirty days just for the application to be turned down at the next meeting. If so, he said, he’d “rather go ahead and start the process for the Board of appeals.” because “time is money.”
A lively back-and-forth ensued between the Commissioners, Crossan and Parker for several minutes before a motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. Crossan and Parker left quickly as Mr. Crossan was still significantly agitated.
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02/04/2024
On Monday evening (7:00pm), the Planning and Zoning Commission will meet to review a site plan application to build a Dollar General Food Store on property owned by the Scarboro Family, at the east end of Church St.
The property is currently vacant and between two residences: 425 and 507 Church Street, approximately 200 feet away from the grounds of Snow Hill High School, and includes the current entranceway to the bike/walking path that follows the old railroad track line through town.
That path is part of the bikeways plan the Town has been working on with Worcester County and the State for several years.
This property is zoned B-2, seemingly because it used to be a business site, but is the only commercial property in this section of town, according to the 2010 Town Comprehensive Plan and is surrounded by existing residences along Church Street, and behind it on Greenbriar Court, off of Stevens Road.
The applicant is Oxford Chase Development, and is represented by Parker & Associates, a surveying firm located in Salisbury (parkerandassociates.org).
The applicant is Oxford Chase Development, and is represented by Brock Parker of Parker & Associates, a surveying firm located in Salisbury (parkerandassociates.org).
According to members of the Planning Commission, no further information had been provided to them about the application as of Friday afternoon.
Bio for Oxford Chase CEO, Howard Crossan
One of the store managers at the Dollar General food store in Princess Anne, told a Snow Hill resident that the company expects construction to start by June, although no action has been taken by the Planning and Zoning Commission as of now. Mayor Mike Pruitt and Town Manager Rick Pollitt have met with the applicant at least once since the application was submitted. Marty Sullivan, the former Code Officer for the Town, who resigned in December, may have been aware of the application prior to his departure, although that could not be confirmed as of the publication of this post. The current Code Officer, Kevin Brown, serving on a temporary basis and having been in the position prior to Sullivan’s tenure was made aware of the application last week.
The current Planning and Zoning Commission members include:
Mark Nixon, Chair (Western Dist. resident & owner of Family Service Center)
Chase Phillips (Central District Resident, and Land Use Planner for Ocean City)
Fran Price (Eastern District resident and local Realtor)
Anthony Bevalaqua (Eastern District Resident and School Administrator)
John Gilliland (Central District Resident and Engineer)
The Commission is a state-mandated organization charged with, among other things, hearing and reviewing applications for both commercial and residential development within the Town limits, and making recommendations to the Council and Mayor as to the appropriateness, based on the Comprehensive Plan and other available reports and studies related to land use. Unfortunately, the Comprehensive Plan has not been updated since 2010, officially. However a strategic revitalization plan, titled Snow Hill 2025, was published in 2015 to memorialize the ideas and intent behind the 2010 revision. Mayor Pruitt was the Western District Council member at the time of publication and is credited in the report.
The state expects each incorporated municipality to update its Comprehensive Plan every ten years, at least. And, in the case of Snow Hill’s that occurs at the same time of the national census. However, prior Town administrations, including the Mayor’s and Planning Commissions between 2015 and now, have bypassed the Comprehensive Plan update process, leaving us with an outdated plan and a rather inert Planning Commission for the last several years. But with the addition of two new members, both of whom have considerable experience and expertise in various areas that can benefit the Commission, and the continued involvement of resident, real estate owner and realtor Fran Price, hopefully the Commissioners will demonstrate a renewed commitment to the work that should be done. In September, Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) representatives came to Snow Hill to talk with the Commission about the update process and support available through the state. The expectation is that funds will be available after the current legislative session ends in April, and be accessible after July 1st.
While the Commission is expected to meet regularly, according to the Town Code, it has not heard any applications for over six months and only appears to have met three times in 2023. John Gilliland was recently appointed as the fifth member of the Commission after being recommended by Central District Councilwoman Diana Walsh. Commission Chair, Mark Nixon and Commissioner Anthony Bevilacqua’s terms expire in 2025. Price’s term stretches to July, 2027, and John Gilliland’s expires in October, 2028.
The meeting on Monday is open to the public and begins at 7:00 pm. According to the meeting agenda (see below), the site plan is available for review at Town Hall. For more information, please contact Town Manager Rick Pollitt or Code Officer Kevin Brown at Town Hall.
The Lower Shore Observer 