City Council Candidates Discuss Residential Development

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.

In this installment, City Council candidates—incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig, and challengers James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner—address residential development in Havre de Grace:

John Correri

Correri thinks the sweeping military base realignment and closure set to impact Aberdeen Proving Ground is the key.

“We have to understand, we’ve been kind of lucky in the area we live in because of issues like BRAC,” he said. “They’ve fostered stronger markets in this area. Residential development is key, and we have a lot of it planned here.”

Correri thinks there’s room for more. But he doesn’t want the city to bank on housing alone.

“I’d like to see some of it come onboard,” he said. “In the same sense, I don’t want to weigh it all on residential development. I’d like to see some industrial or economic development come along to weigh those scales a little more evenly.”

Randy Craig

Craig is done with residential development outside of the unfinished projects in Havre de Grace.

“I don’t think there should be any more residential development other than for those lots that already exist, and that includes those in Bulle Rock and Greenway Farms, which are the two main un-built areas,” Craig said.

He also points to the “infill lots” in town that can help fill the taxrolls without expanding the city’s infrastructure base.

“My philosophy has always been we need to build on the lots we have where the infrastructure already exists,” he said. “The city takes the first risk to accommodate that growth through infrastructure, roads. The developer builds the roads but we have to maintain it. They put in the piping, but we have to maintain it, put the water there. That’s an extraordinary expense. In my mind, I don’t see the city exploring any other areas for residential growth, outside of the existing boundaries.”

Craig is in favor of annexing some of the agricultural areas outside of the city limits to be used as buffers against further development from outside of the city.

“To expand out further geographically, that’s more staff, that’s more vehicles. It’s more expense,” he said. “I think we’ve kind of reached our limit on what we can reasonably do at a reasonable tax rate for it to remain a reasonable place to live from an affordability standpoint.”

James Lauer

Lauer did not respond to repeated interview requests from Patch.

Diane Lawder

Lawder thinks the city is virtually tapped out when it comes to available housing.

“I don’t know where else we can develop,” she said. “I think the city is pretty much developed at full capacity.”

Lawder sees other issues—including flooding along Lilly Run, in one particular location—as a stumbling block for construction.

”I know when they tore [Tranquility Place] out, they had plans to put in a nice, gated community. But Lilly run is the issue,” she said. “The developers aren’t going to want to fork over the money to fix Lilly Run. But until its fixed, they can’t really develop it.”

 Lawder said the city needs to focus on helping finish what has already started.

“The hill is developed. We don’t have much more. I think they need to finish developing certain neighborhoods, and maybe that will help with taxes,” she said. “We need to get people to move here, and that will help with taxes too.”

Lori Maslin

Maslin thinks Mayor Wayne Dougherty’s plan to stimulate development by delaying the capital cost recover fees should help—anything to make Havre de Grace attractive to builders.

“It’s putting off (the city) receiving some of that income. But the reality is, weighing options,” she said. “You don’t want to put off developers from building here because it’s too onerous.”

Simplifying the process is critical, she said.

“How do we encourage business? Make it easier for them. If there’s a way to do that, then let's do that,” she said. “If we can do that in a way that’s fiscally responsible, then we do that.”

Another key, Maslin said, is to try to sell Havre de Grace to potential residents. Such an effort should be handled by the tourism and economic development departments together, she suggested.

“Is there a terrible thing about doing some advertising for Havre de Grace? No. Not just tourism-based, but getting out there and going to the BRAC communities and saying, look, this is what we’re about,” she said. “Get them to not only want to come back, but to stay. Get them to say, ‘Wow, wouldn’t this be a great place to retire.’”

Barbara Wagner

Wagner said the economy is to blame for the halt in development in Havre de Grace.

“I think that they really thought that a lot more development was going to happen. But obviously, what has happened to the economy, it’s not building back up at the same rate they’d hoped to,” she said.

Wagner is in support of adjusting the fee structure and schedule to boost the housing economy in town. But she said the city needs to be smart about ushering in residential growth in the right places.

“In terms of smart growth, have growth where the systems already exist,” she said. “There’s a lot of resistance to growth [downtown], but this is where we have the infrastructure. Be more open to that.”

———

Other issues the candidates for City Council have addressed:

—April 20

—April 21

—April 22

—April 23

—April 25

—April 26