Easton Town Council to Consider a 13 Acre Annexation
(The following information is courtesy of Talbot Preservation Alliance) Easton Town Council to Consider a 13 Acre Annexation The Town Council will consider the Orion Property annexation request Monday, April 18 at 7:15 p.m., at 14 S. Harrison Street that will add commercial development on St. Michaels Rd (Rt 33) adjoining the Waterside Village shopping center. The owners of the annexation parcel want commercial zoning for the 13 acre property. But they won't identify any commercial project that they - or a future developer - want to bring to our town. If the annexation is approved the property could be utilized to expand the Waterside Village shopping center. The attorney promoting the annexation has stated that "major retail like a large Home Depot or grocery store" could be developed on the site through Easton's "planned unit development" process. What is the Impact of Already Approved Development? Easton has already approved: Almost a quarter million square feet of new retail space adjoining the proposed annexation parcel, most of which has not yet been built Easton Village, directly across St. Michaels Road from the annexation parcel, will triple its current size to 250 dwelling units. A new 60 unit apartment building just inside the Route 33 entrance to BJ's Questions the Town Council Must Answer Given its certain consequences, annexation should not be approved until the proponents provide, and agree to, a specific plan for how to develop the property. The citizens and the Town Council must evaluate: What will be the traffic impact of more Route 33 commercial development, how can it be mitigated, and who will pay for the mitigation? Will new development be of a type leading to more closures of stores, and empty spaces, in our many existing shopping areas? How will more commercial development conform with Easton's Comprehensive Plan which states "Easton has significantly more commercial development than a community of our population would