Sugarloaf Planning Area Challenges & Opportunities #1

What are residents' desires and concerns regarding the future of the Sugarloaf Planning Area? What is the community's vision for this area?

tinaartbrown

Mar 3

Sugarloaf Mountain is a treasured natural resource. Visitors to the mountain are drawn to this rustic landscape that surrounds the mountain. When they walk up the stone steps to the summit, from the West View trail, there is real appreciation for Gordon Strong who created this private park, and the surrounding landowners and jurisdictions who have protected the surrounding farms and forests. Montgomery County has an Agricultural Reserve that limits development to one house per 25 acres, protects farmland and provides a connected wildlife corridor. Isn't it time for Frederick County to create an agricultural and Natural Resource Conservation plan that would protect this area from development?

pethelp1

May 11

The deeds on private property in Frederick do indeed have restrictions for 10 acre lots and natural resources preservation on one side of Mt Ephraim and Agricultural use on the other side.

cspoteat

Mar 12

Steve Poteat

Many residents and visitors would like to see the vision for the Sugarloaf Area Plan (SAP) remain pretty much as it is today: a bucolic area with Sugarloaf Mountain as the centerpiece with a comfortable mix of public and private open space, farmland and farmsteads, appropriately scaled agritourism, scattered and complementary residences and convenience retail.

At the same time, we residents need to recognize the context within which this planning effort is taking place. The briefing book notes that the Sugarloaf area is part of the Green Infrastructure Sector (GIS) of the Livable Frederick Master Plan. I believe the community’s vision for the Sugarloaf Area Plan is reasonably consistent with the GIS, which is charged with “supporting the conservation of natural resources and environmentally-sensitive areas in the county; directing urban and suburban growth away from green infrastructure and sensitive areas; and ensuring the protection and integration of green infrastructure where it exists within areas targeted for growth.”

The Sugarloaf Planning Area, including Sugarloaf Mountain (3400 acres) and the Monocacy Natural Resource Management Area (1800 acres), is part of an existing and growing interconnected regional system of green space including Little Bennett Regional Park (3640 acres), the Patuxent State River Park (6703 acres); and, the C&O Canal National Historic Park with 184.5 miles of towpath almost 16 miles of which are in Frederick County. The Sugarloaf region is a major link connecting both the Potomac and the Patuxent River Valleys as major greenspace opportunities for the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan Areas. It must also be noted that the Washington Metropolitan Area is one of the major growth areas of the United States, and enormous economic forces have been and will continue to exert strong real estate development pressures. As it has in the past and present, the Sugarloaf area will continue to experience that same development pressure. The Urbana area east of I-270 has been wisely designed consistent with new urbanism principles to absorb some of that development pressure. We must recognize that the Sugarloaf area does not exist in isolation, but with wise land use planning it can support the overall objectives of the Livable Frederick Plan.

Sarah B

Apr 16

It'll be easier to continue to deflect those development pressures if we focus on increasing and guarding the value of the area. Equestrian businesses and agritourism are two good examples of the kinds of growth that should be fostered so the area is better defined. Keeping the area too "bucolic" is likely to costs us in the long run.