Evening star., 1962-04-07
County OverruIes
Zoning Aides 29%
Prince Georges
Commissioners
Snub Planners

The Prince Georges County
commissioners have overruled
planners in % per cent of the
commercial, apartment and in
dustrial rezoning cases before
them in the last three years.
The figure was obtained from
files of the Maryland National
Capital Park and Planning
Commission after county re-
zoning policies became a major
issue in the current political
campaign and in the move
ment for charter form of
government.
The 20 per cent figure for
Prince Georges compares with
a 13 per cent record in Mont
gomery County of overriding
Recommendations Of the plan
nerS.
Make Recommendations
Rezonings are made by the
governing bodies of the two
counties after they get recon-
mendations from their mem
bers on the bicounty Mary
land-National Capital Park
and Planning Commission.
The Independent Democrats,
who are opposing the organiza-
ton of Lansdale G.. Sasscer,
ST., for control of county gov
ernment, claim that the county
commissioners grant rezonings
without regard to good land
planning or to the rights of
nearby property owners.
Similar claims are made by
the leaders of the move to
reform. county government by
adopting a charter form as has
been done in Montgomery
County. is
The present county commits
sioners claim that planners
deal in theories and not in
practical application.
"They (the planners) are our
advisers" said Commissioner
Frank j. Lastner when asked
for comment on the M-NCPPC
statistics. "The law puts the
final Judgment in our hands
and we treat each case on its
merits"
Theory, "NOt Science"
Jesse Baggett, president of
the county commissioners,
said the planning agency is
mot infallible." He said that
"zoning is a theory, not an
exact science"
At a meeting of the Prince
Georges members of the
M-NPPC Wednesday, County
Planning Engineer C.. Warren
Giauque claimed that "the
whole county could beS zoned
commercial" under present
policies.
According to planning COM
mission officials, about 95 per
cent of the rezoning requests
in the two counties are Tor in
come producing apartment.
commercial or industrial de-
velopment.
A spot check of zoni1g ap-
lplications in which the Prince
Georges commissioners over
ruled the planners showed that
in many of the apartment
zoning requests the planners
protested that land should be
properly developed in a more
or less continuous and con-
sistent growth pattern, extend
ling outward from the District
of Columbia" rather than "to
allow leapfrogging and by
passing of large acreages."
Apartments Protested
In one case involving a re-
zoning near the town limits Of
District Heights, the town gov
erning body protested that "if
a progressing pattern of apart
ment rezoning is allowed to
continue we will be walled-in
city :"
In the case of commercial
and industrial zoning, the most
frequent protests of the plan
ners was against zoning busi-
ness spots in residential areas,
zoning strips down highways
Ior failure to follow general
zoning plans for the area.
| In several cases involving re-
lzonings in the southern area
of the county, Just taken under
planning commission jurisdic-
tion last year, the planners pro-
tested that a zoning plan for
the area should be adopted be-
fore patterns are set through
indiscriminate rezonings.
One of the latest industrial
Irezonings protested by the plan
ners was one of March 16 for
10 acres on Van Dusen road
in the Laurel area for the Con-
tee Sand & Gravel Co. The
planners protested that the fact
THAT the company operates a
gravel and asphalt mixing oper-
tation more than half a mile
away should not be allowed
to dictate the zoning and de-
velopment pattern" for the
larea. They said the industrial
rezoning was an invasion of a