I recently learned about a Sept. 16, 2024 letter from County Council President Cannon to Mayor Taylor discussing the Wicomico County Council’s concerns regarding parking and density in the Central Business District. This letter expressing the County’s concerns was not included in any of the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission Briefing Books when considering the zoning density text amendment. Also absent from the Briefing Books was the July 31, 2024 letter from City Council members to the P&Z Commission expressing their support for the developer’s text amendment. Neither P&Z Commission chairman Chip Dashiell nor City Council president and P&Z member D’Shawn Doughty publicly acknowledged or even mentioned either of the attached letters.
Now the City Council is fast-tracking Ordinance 2909 without adequate time between its introduction at a Work Session and its 1st Reading at a Legislative Session, both on the same evening of Dec. 16, 2024 and both without any meaningful discussion amongst the council members. A 2nd Reading and a Public Hearing were held at the next Legislative Session on Jan.13, 2025 amidst public outcry and confusion regarding hastily imposed new rules and procedures. Absolutely NO council discussion of the ordinance ensued, not even a token call for discussion of the matter. Separately, the Mayor and Councilwoman Dashiell requested a brief delay of the vote pending receipt of a parking/traffic study commissioned by the city. Both were denied. A vote ensued to pass the ordinance 4-1.
Following the Mayor’s justified VETO, the City Council has now scheduled a revote on the ordinance at a Special Legislative meeting on Jan. 27, 2025. Why have the aforementioned letters not been included in any of the City Council’s Agenda Packets? This is not what Transparency looks like!
This is ludicrous! It appears that the City Council and the P&Z Commission have conspired to deceive the public by concealing these letters!
Carolyn Wohlgemuth
Salisbury resident
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
