WMDT 47ABC Interviews ESLC on Environmental Impact Concerns of the Lakeside at Trappe
WMDT 47ABC recently interviewed ESLC President Steve Kline for an article about the environmental impact concerns of the Lakeside at Trappe. In addition to traffic congestion, loss of agricultural land, pressure on schools, and the pressure on emergency services, Kline also shared that “the number one concern so far is water quality and what 2,500 units would mean for the Choptank River, for Trappe Creek and other waterways in the area.”
The Talbot County Council has been deciphering how to best respond to a request from MDE to correct long-standing sewer mapping errors for Trappe and to provide updated information on the expected number of EDUs for each phase of Lakeside’s development. EDU’s, an acronym for Equivalent Dwelling Units, are used for capacity planning and measure the anticipated wastewater effluent from a development. At their last meeting, the Council debated whether it should provide this information directly to MDE or incorporate it into the “Report of the Review” it is currently working on.
The “Report of the Review” provides an updated snapshot of the existing water and sewer conditions in the county since the last adopted Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan. Pete Lesher was the sole proponent of addressing the MDE updates through a separate process since the inclusion of updated information on anticipated EDUs for Lakeside would be new information rather than just an update of preexisting conditions. In the interest of expediency, the Council ultimately voted 4-1 to incorporate the new information into the “Report of the Review.” The extensive discussion between County staff and the Councilmembers on the matter can be viewed here: (Video of last meeting with relevant section beginning at 47:40): https://talbot-md.granicus.com/player/clip/816?view_id=4&redirect=true&h=82bd575d26a3b84fcfba9e4197f4189c)
The draft document will soon be available on the Talbot County website for public review and comment before heading to the Public Works Advisory Board and Planning Commission for their review and a determination of consistency with the County’s Comprehensive Plan. ESLC will be in attendance at those meetings and we urge interested citizens to keep abreast of these developments and to provide input.
Read WMDT’s full article here: https://www.wmdt.com/2023/08/lakeside-at-trappe-is-raising-environmental-impact-concerns/