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Mission Statement
Conserve, steward, and advocate for the unique rural landscape of the Eastern Shore.

ExcellenceITAC Accreditation
eastern shore maryland farmland conservation

December 2008

ESLC Announces Expanded Work with Towns

Non-Profit Welcomes Salisbury Native to Staff Eastern Shore Land Conservancy is pleased to announce the addition of Jacob Day to its staff. Day, who is originally from Wicomico County, joins the staff as a Town Planning Manager, to offer assistance to the Eastern Shore’s towns on growth and planning issues. He will be responsible for launching a small town planning initiative that aims to make available the most applicable and effective town planning tools, techniques, services, and models of how healthy, strong communities grow sustainably. As a primary part of this, Day will also provide immediate support to local governments who are addressing the new comprehensive plan elements of MD House Bill 1141, namely the water resource element and the municipal growth element. "We are so pleased to add Jake to our staff to fill this critical need here on the Shore ," said Amy Owsley, ESLC’s Director of Land Use Planning. "Jake’s background and expertise are ideally suited to help understand the land use planning needs of Eastern Shore small towns and villages and create important partnerships to help build the capacity of local government planning." This planner position is not intended to replicate or replace the services of the MD Department of Planning circuit riders, or the direct technical services provided by consultants that some towns are hiring to write the 1141 comp plan elements. "Our Eastern Shore towns are at the heart of sound land use planning—the growth towns select today will define our region for generations," said Owsley. It’s going to take all hands on deck to give towns the resources they need, and this position is one piece of that help." A Salisbury native, Jake has focused much of his previous work on sustainable economic, energy, and land development on the Delmarva Peninsula. He previously served as

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Queen Anne’s County Considers Zoning and Land Values

ESLC presents research summary Queenstown, Maryland December 12, 2008 – Queen Anne’s County Planning Commission is considering a new zoning policy, called Ordinance 08-25 - the Rural Preservation and Development Act, that has raised concerns about the link between downzoning and land values. To address this question the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), a private, nonprofit land conservation organization, compiled a research synthesis of studies focusing on downzoning and land valuation with citations. ESLC Executive Director Rob Etgen presented this information to the Queen Anne’s County Planning Commission at their December 11th meeting. According to Etgen, "We work with hundreds of farm families every year and are very sensitive to any impacts of regulations on land values. While we are comfortable that the new Queen Anne’s ordinance will not cause any dramatic decrease in land values, it is important for the decision makers to read the research and draw their own conclusions." In addition to providing copies of the research to the Planning Commission, ESLC encourages interested landowners to read the research reports which are available through the Conservancy website   www.eslc.org . Of the eleven studies within this research synthesis, seven found that downzoning did not decrease land values and four found that it did. Of the four that found a loss in value from downzoning, the only one more recent than 1988 was a New Jersey study which was not published nor peer reviewed. Of the seven that found no loss in value from downzoning, five were published and peer reviewed. "Although the research on downzoning and land values is not unanimous, the majority of the research has found no impact on land values from downzoning," said Etgen.   The Caroline County Planning Commission also provided the Queen Anne’s County Planning Commission their experience on the issue with a letter describing a successful ordinance in Caroline

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ESLC Announces 2008 Kids Essay and Art Contest Winners

Contests open to all K-8 Students on Upper and Mid-Shore The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy has announced the winners of their first ever (and hopefully annual!) Kids Essay and Art Contest. The Contest was open to all students in grades kindergarten through eight in the six Upper and Mid-Shore Counties including Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester. In both the essay and the poster, students were asked to tell, via the written word or via their artwork, why they love the Eastern Shore and what people, places and memories make the Eastern Shore so special to them. Over 300 entries were received from schools throughout the Upper and Mid-Shore. Because some categories did not receive entries, the art contest entries were placed in an Upper and Mid-Shore division. Winners include the following: Kids Art Contest Winners: Mid-Shore (Caroline, Dorchester and Talbot) K-2 Division Winner: Dakota Gunter, Greensboro Elementary School 2nd Place: Arianna Cintron, Ridgely Elementary School 3-5 Division Winner: Samuel Newmier, White Marsh Elementary School 2nd: Quinn Jennings, St. Michaels Elementary School Honorable Mention: Sequoia Chupek, SMES 6-8 Division Winner: Alecia Hall, St. Michaels Elementary School 2nd Place: Alee Micheli, Chesapeake Christian School Honorable Mention: Caroline Camper, SMES and Cheyenne Cowell, St. Michaels Elementary School Kids Art Contest Winners: Upper Shore (Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s) K-2: No Entries 3-5 Division 1st place: Sky Ulsprach, Kent School 2nd place: Brooke, Kent School Honorable Mentions: Cameron Wick, Noah Kullman, Radcliffe Creek 6-8 Divison 1st place: Jimmy Johnson, Jr., Radcliffe Creek 2nd place: Kelsey Griffin, Radcliffe Creek Honorable Mentions: Leanna Taylor, Augie Callahan, Radcliffe Creek Kids Essay Contest Winners: Kent 1sr place:Jake Schengber, Radcliffe Creek 2nd place: Zekiel Whitlock, Radcliffe Creek Honorable Mention:Claire Lawrence, Kent School Kids Essay Contest Winners: Queen Anne’s County 1st place Morgan Starr, Sudlersville Middle School 2nd place: hayden Rhodes: Sudlersville Middle School Honorable Mention: Taylor Douglas, Sudlersville Middle School Kids Essay Contest Winners: Talbot 1st Place: Samuel Newmier, White Marsh Elementary School 2nd Place: Caroline Camper, St. Michaels Elementary

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2008 Eastern Shore 2010 Award Winners Announced!

Honors given at annual planning conference Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) recentlyannounced the recipients of this year’s Eastern Shore 2010 Achievement Awards. The 2008 Eastern Shore 2010 Achievement Awards, inspired by the regional land use planning agreement that sets the highest expectations for the care of the Eastern Shore landscape, distinguish outstanding leadership in the field of land use planning and land development on the Eastern Shore. The purpose of these awards is to honor the projects, people and places that best define growth befitting the Eastern Shore. This year’s awards are focused on the Eastern Shore 2010’s Goal 4, “Develop a regional transportation plan by 2010 that provides alternatives to a new Bay crossing and emphasizes the use of alternative as well as public transportation within and among communities “This awards program was inspired by the amazing work our local governments and groups were out there doing to reach the Eastern Shore 2010 agreement’s goals,” said Rob Etgen, ESLC’s Executive Director. “With so many issues facing the Eastern Shore when it comes to transportation, it is so exciting to be able to honor the folks who are working to get out in front of these tough issue to help protect our Eastern Shore quality of life from being diminished as a result of these challenges.” This year’s Eastern Shore 2010 award recipients are: Regional Leadership:MUST Bus This nationally recognized model for how best to implement a rural bus system is a collaborative effort between Delmarva Community Transit, Delmarva Community Services and Queen Anne’s County Rides. The MUST which provided free transportation for conference attendees at today’s event, gives the region a wide range of public transit choices, both fixed-rout and on-demand services. County Leadership: Queen Anne’s County Cool Climates: Growing Cooler Queen Anne’s County has taken a momentous step, and shown

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