Chestertown Gateway Master Planning Project

ESLC Draft Chestertown Gateway Master Plan Draft Arrives

A draft master plan was recently received from Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC), the consultant for the Chestertown Gateway Master Planning project. Receipt of this draft plan, attached and also available for download at www.eslc.org, kicks off the next part of the public process for the overall project. This is only a starting draft and does not connote any public decisions such as formal annexation-rather, this is just a next step in a process of shaping the plan. Last November's well-attended community charrette, which focused on the Hopewell and Peterson Farms, was prompted after a recent developer's request in 2006 to annex 600 acres for development of over 1,500 units. The charrette process was created by a partnership among ESLC, a private, nonprofit land conservation organization, Chestertown and Kent County.

The draft plan includes a set of maps depicting the culmination of the charrette input, an economic analysis that details housing units and phasing, and supporting materials related to the charrette process, architectural and development standards. Also included is an impressive set of design illustrations and options. An additional component of the plan - which features detailed record of the community input process- will be available next week on the ESLC website and at the town and county offices. In summary the draft plan details a 4-phased development over 50 years, with the current asking price ($12-16 million) for the property captured with the first two phases (30 years). The plan calls for 800 residential units in the first two phases and the development of approximately 400,000 square feet of commercial space.

A preliminary ESLC review of the draft plan finds the scale to be too large and weighted too heavily toward the economic analysis rather than the charrette public input. Because ESLC believes that the plan for this property must be strongly driven by the community, ESLC does not at this time support the plan's findings at this scale of development. Instead we look forward to the community's further shaping of this plan and exploring more appropriately scaled scenarios. Crucially needed will be the enthusiasm and creativity from the whole community to help find the solutions and tools that best balances the community's vision for a pace of growth that is appropriate for Chestertown.

In order to move forward with the project, the Advisory Committee, appointed to oversee this process, will review the initial draft plan to be sure it is ready to enter the next phase of the public review process for shaping and decision-making.

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