Evening star., 1954-11-21
right Renewed
Upon 'Eyesore'
State Roadsides
Maryland Bill to Ask
Zoning Restrictions
For 200-Foot Area

Intensified efforts have been
launched for State legislation to
prevent the roadside areas of
Maryland's future highways from
becoming hodge -podges of COM
mercial development.
The end of commercial en-
croachment is regarded by the
bills hackers as the answer to
safe, orderly and economical
development Of the State high
way system as to the location
Of access roads and business
areas.
Automobile. traffic safety. gar
den and civic clubs are in the
forefront of the current move
for enactment of the necessary
legislative amendments at the
next session of the Maryland
General Assembly opening in
January. A similar bill failed
by narrow margin in the House
Of Delegates last session.
Restrictive ZOning.
Primarily, the measure would
empower the State Roads Com
mission to control by restrictive
coming a strip of land 200 feet
wide on each side Of the right
of-way of any highway, freeway
or parkway outside the corporate
limits Of towns and cities.
The proposed bill would ex-
empt from zoning control those
commercial and industrial enter
prises already existing in the
200-foot control area. The roads
commission, moreover, could
exercise zoning jurisdiction only
over those thoroughfares having
a traffic density Of at least 1000
vehicles per day.
The measure has been drafted
by Democratic Delegates Jerome
Robinson of Baltimore City and
A. Gordon Boone of Baltimore
County. Both piloted the bill to
near success in 1858.
Four Criticisms Cited.
Roadside protection" is the
stated goal. The preamble to
the bill summarizes the evils of
unrestricted business develop
ment on lands Immediately
adjacent to major highways as:
l.. Increasing traffic hazards.
2. Reducing road capacity by
causing congestion.
3. Impairing usefulness and
attractiveness Of the thorough
fare.
4. And impafring the value
of the States investment in its
road system.
One of the major supporters
of the legislation, the American
Automobile Association, which
has been fighting for universal
roadside protection for years,
places most emphasis on the
fourth point.
Washington I. Cleveland, Sec
retary of the District Division
which includes much of the sur
rounding Maryland territory,
considers it self-evident that
cofnmercialization along road
ways creates traffic congestion
and hazards as well as esthetic
eyesores.
Route 40 Classic Example.
The very business enterprises
that have sprung up indiscrim-
inately adjacent to highways are
choking off their own trade, Mr..
Cleveland said.
u. S. Route 40 between Balti-
more and Aberdeen is classic
example of what to avoid.
This highway was designed in
the roads commission program
to handle high-speed traffic ade-
quately well beyond 1860. In a
report two years ago, the COM
mission noted that the four-lane'
divided highway even then had
become inadequate.
Poor planning was not the
reason, the commission con-
cluded. Rather, it is the en-
croachment on the margin OF
this once-splendid highway by
sundry and assorted commercial
enterprises that has caused this
road to become inadequate"
The only solution now, COM
mission officials said, is to build
a replacement highway for this
stretch. II