The county recently shook up its staff overseeing development, laying off a dozen inspectors and other employees. The board of commissioners, meanwhile, is weighing a countywide rezoning that would affect housing development on lands that drain into the bays.
Environmental activists say the county may be veering toward more development just a few years after adopting a growth plan that many had hailed for restricting building in sensitive areas near the bays.
"It's to open a one-stop shop for developers," Kathy Phillips, executive director of the Assateague Coastal Trust, said of the county's move to consolidate its development-review offices. Of the proposed rezoning, she said, "it's putting growth in the wrong areas."
Bud Church, vice president of the board of commissioners and a real estate broker, said Worcester County cut its inspectors and planners because there is less development to oversee since the recession hit. He denied that the county was relaxing controls on growth, and vowed to oppose any increase in building along Sinepuxent or Newport bays, which he represents.
"I swim in those bays, I fish in those bays," Church said. "I have five grandkids that swim and fish in those bays. I'm as motivated as any environmentalist out there to make sure those bays don't go the wrong way."
Yet Dave Wilson, program director of the coastal bays program, said the county seems to be adopting "a bit more laissez-faire approach" to development.
The new zoning plan would protect some sensitive areas bordering the bays, he said, but allow more residential and commercial development in others - and an overall increase in growth. The county, home to about 50,000 year-round residents, is projecting adding 10,000 more residents over the next 20 years.
"The forgotten bays are forgotten no longer," Dennison said. "They've been discovered, and we need to manage them in a very aggressive way."
To see the report card: http://www.eco-check.org/reportcard/mcb/2008
