Help preserve the ag reserve

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005

We are concerned about the future of the agricultural reserve. There is growing pressure to permit the building of large Private Institutional Facilities within the reserve. The original intent of the framers of the legislation is clear and that is to maintain a viable, even thriving agricultural community in the county.

The impact of many of the proposed PIFs is not fully understood by the general population. We hope that is not the case with the County Council members.

First there is the impact to the water table. Some large PIFs are being contemplated that would utilize nearly 20,000 gallons per day, necessitating large and perhaps untried technologies to accomplish. We know, in our area, that drought conditions left several wells relatively dry.

Secondly, processed waste will eventually seep into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We also know that all septic systems eventually fail. Regulations would require that public water and sewage be provided in that case at ruinous cost to the taxpayers of the county and for the benefit of a single institutional entity.

Using established techniques, we would ask that the council restrict well and septic systems for any PIF to 5,000 gallons per day or less. This may be accomplished by treating all PIFs in the agricultural reserve as special exceptions.

As a member of an established Laytonsville church, we are not opposed to new churches in our community. But these megachurches are not what we want. While they profess a desire to serve the community, one must ask, ‘‘Does the community in which you propose to build, want or need your services?” If the answer to that question is ‘‘no,” then the county should reject the petition.

We, along with many others, do not believe they will be of any benefit to our community. They will only destroy our agricultural areas and we are very concerned about the impact they will have on the existing infrastructure.

We do not want the council to deny applications for new churches, etc., we just want it to limit their size and be certain that the community in which they plan to build, favors their presence.

Please help us to preserve the reserve and our existing quality of life. We love Laytonsville and all the beautiful agricultural vistas. Once they are gone, we will never get them back.

Joseph and Ann Sladki, Laytonsville