TRAPPE — The Town of Trappe is calling for the Maryland Department of the Environment to reject Resolution 338.
In a letter, the town, along with Trappe East Holdings Business Trust, called on MDE to “disapprove” of the Comprehensive Water and Sewerage Plan amendment proposed by the resolution.
It took the Talbot County Council upwards of a year to approve the measure, which addresses specific issues raised by MDE dealing with the number of equivalent dwelling units in the different phases of the housing development’s construction.
Resolution 338, which was approved in April, amends the Talbot County Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan to be consistent with provisions of Lakeside’s wastewater discharge permit and requires an amendment to the comprehensive plan for any future expansion of the new Lakeside Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In the letter, Resolution 338 is described as intended by Talbot County to establish a “county growth control mechanism specific to a single development project located entirely within the town.”
The resolution has been sent to MDE for its review, and MDE will make the final decision to approve, edit or deny the resolution.
The Issues
Described as the most significant problem with Resolution 338 in the letter is Table 1, specifying the yearly average flow to be 100,000 gallons per day, and a footnote.
Table 1 states that expansion of the plant will require an amendment, including a certification by the Talbot County Planning Commission that the amendment is consistent with the Talbot County Comprehensive Plan.
The letter’s writers said Talbot County’s adoption of this language is premised upon a “fundamental misunderstanding of the role and authority of the Talbot County Council.”
The letter’s writers stated the incorporation of Table 1 infringes on MDE’s exclusive authority to regulate groundwater discharge in the state.
Additionally, Resolution 338 states the first 100,000-gallon phase of the plant “will allow approximately 400 residential units to be built.” The letter sent to MDE states the 100,000 gallons of capacity in the first phase of the plant will serve more than 400 homes.
In the eyes of the town and developer, it will “constitute an enforceable restriction on the number of homes that can be connected to the (wastewater treatment plant), regardless of actual flows.”
The writers stated that MDE should reject this phrase in Resolution 338 because it creates a restriction that is “unduly burdensome on the town, which has the authority to oversee the operation and allocation of capacity within its municipal system.”
The letter includes several exhibits, including copies of letters of objections submitted to the Talbot County Council, as well as a detailed historical account of the decisions made within the last 20 years of this development project, titled “Prior County Attempt to Control Timing of Town Infrastructure for Lakeside.”
Further down in the letter, the county’s envisioned dual approval process was criticized as “practically and legally flawed.”
The timeline for a future expansion of the plant will likely take 2.5 to 4 years, according to Trappe and Lakeside’s attorneys. Adding eight to 12 months for Talbot County to determine whether it is an “appropriate” time for the town to continue implementing its Comprehensive Plan would require the town to initiate the Comprehensive Water and Sewer Plan amendment four to five years before expanded treatment capacity.
Toward the end of the letter, the writers stated that if MDE is inclined to approve any portion of Resolution 338, “at a minimum, the 100,000 gallons per day daily capacity limit and the footnote requiring a (comprehensive water and sewer plan) amendment for each expansion of the Lakeside (wastewater treatment plant) should be deleted.”
However, they also stated that if MDE were to “approve Resolution 338, this would establish a precedent that could result in unintended consequences, including erosion of MDE’s authority to regulate the timing, scope and conditions of discharge permits.”
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