Keep Calvert Country

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Calvert County is a great place to live and we want it to grow responsibly and sustainably. Calvert County should:

• grow no more than its highways can reasonably accommodate (a level of service “D” or better).

• grow no more than its aquifer capacity can sustain to serve the population with safe, potable water, and

• grow no faster than its schools can accommodate, in terms of classroom size and total school capacity in each school district, to avoid harming the ability of our students to learn.

 

Calvert County is a peninsula county with the Chesapeake Bay on the east and the Patuxent River on the west. We need to be good stewards of the environment to protect our rural economies, the Bay and River, and quality of life. Calvert County should:

• preserve at least 40,000 acres of prime farm and forest lands (currently 30,000 acres are preserved),

• provide adequate buffers to wetlands, streams and steep slopes; we should enforce our stormwater management regulations, and

• provide all children with adequate access to nature, trails and parks.

 

Calvert County is unique. It should not become Waldorf. We want our town centers to be attractive and inviting places to live, work, and shop. Calvert County should:

• adopt good architectural standards for buildings and signs; which are reviewed by county citizens as well as county government,

• concentrate commercial development in town centers, and concentrate residential growth in town centers designated for such growth, with parks, gathering areas, local businesses, and sidewalks,

• ensure that good housing is available to county citizens of all incomes and ages, and

• ensure that zoning decisions about town centers occur during the town center master plan process, not during a rushed comprehensive plan process.

 

We want good government that is fiscally responsible and responsive to its citizens. Calvert County should:

• consult with its citizens and conduct fiscal cost/benefit analysis prior to initiating big capital projects,

• ensure that such projects should be first identified in Master Plans and/or infrastructure plans before they are programmed into county budgets,

• prepare plans with extensive citizen participation, reaching out to all citizens groups, and seeking and maintaining liaisons with those groups, seeking both problems and solutions from its citizens, and holding public forums with question and answer sessions before presenting plans for public review, and

• adopt regulations only if they comply with the Comprehensive Plan and master plans and provide funding to ensure implementation of those regulations.

 

Calvert County has a strong economy. We believe that the economy will remain strong by building upon the county’s unique rural character and quality of life. We agree with the Sage Policy Group Economic Development Strategy Plan that the County should:

• support local entrepreneurs, agriculture, agri-tourism, eco-tourism, and heritage tourism,

• provide funding and marketing programs designed to help our farms thrive,

• give an advantage to locally-owned businesses, not chains, and

• support a development review process that helps local businesses comply with County regulations.

 

Calvert County has a rich natural and cultural history, which substantially contributes to our quality of life. We believe it needs to be preserved and protected.  Calvert County should:

• support the preservation and interpretation of our ecological, pre-historical, historical and cultural resources and require protection of archeological sites during the development process and

• support our museums, parks, outdoor environmental programs and organizations that provide educational and preservation services to our county.

 

Calvert Countians are active in civic organizations and public service which helps foster a set of social relationships that nurture individuals and families. Calvert County should:

• promote positive interaction among all citizens,

• celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity, and

• actively include new residents in the life of the community.  

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