Frederick officials meet their neighbors

Adams County, Pa., commissioners discuss U.S. Route 15, development

Route 15, which connects Frederick and Adams counties, has quickly become a crowded four-lane interstate with development sprouting up on both sides. Elected officials realize to get a handle on this influx of urban sprawl, they need to work together.

To better understand how each county works, county commissioners from Adams and Frederick met June 24 in Frederick. The officials concluded that for a better working relationship, they would keep each other informed of development changes that could impact their respective counties.

Adams County Board Chairman George Weikert (R) thanked Frederick County for meeting with his group.

‘‘The one thing I’d like to be is a good neighbor,” he said. ‘‘Anything that comes up, we would like to be included, like in Emmitsburg.”

Weikert said Adams County officials came to talk about Route 15 and the traffic caused by new development in both counties.

‘‘I’m sure Frederick County people are working in Harrisburg and Pennsylvania people work in D.C. People want to live in the country and so they’re moving farther out,” he said. ‘‘How are you dealing with that sprawl?”

Frederick County Commissioner Kai J. Hagen (D) cited a partial building moratorium, announced by his board in January. The moratorium is intended to allow commissioners time to update the county’s 1998 comprehensive plan, a document that outlines the future of housing growth, and modify the county’s growth-control policy.

Frederick Board President Jan H. Gardner (D) assured the three Adams County commissioners that it is not commissioners’ intention to slow down development in Frederick County by forcing people to move to Pennsylvania. Gardner blamed that on high housing prices.

Traffic from Adams County through Emmitsburg, which sits adjacent to the Pennsylvania border, is a problem, commissioners agreed.

‘‘There is little in the way of mass transit in Adams County to help alleviate the traffic through Emmitsburg and down Route 15,” Hagen said. Weikert said Adams County does not have much in the way of mass transit. They are also aware of the traffic problems in Emmitsburg.

‘‘We’ve been reading about the Emmitsburg bypass in our local papers,” he said.

No additional meetings between the two boards have been scheduled at this time.

It wasn’t the first time Frederick County commissioners have met with officials from neighboring counties. Gardner recently met with an official from Loudoun County, Va., to discuss issues that impact both counties as well.