Planning for the Future

Bart Dorsch

“The results viewed today are the answers to the research of yesterday.  The developments of tomorrow depend upon the research compiled today.”The Wicomico County Planning and Zoning Commission and Salisbury Planning Commission

Imagine it’s the summer of 2000 and route 50 and the Assateague Parkway are loaded with people on their way to the beach.  This is the first year that people have a choice on which bridge to take across the Chesapeake Bay.  They can either take the old Bay Bridge or the newly opened Assateague Parkway.  The Parkway runs from just above the mouth of the Patuxent River, below Cambridge, over the Nanticoke River, above Tyaskin, through Wicomico County, and over to Assateague.  Driving on the Assateague Parkway through Wicomico County one gets to see the rural character of the County because most of the land surrounding the Parkway has been designated as conservation land and the rest is farmland. 

            Along with the numerous motorists whom are passing through there are also many residents who are traveling the county’s streets.  The local residents also have some new routes to take this year.  They can utilize the new expressway that runs along Salisbury’s western edge and which connects Snow Hill to Delaware, the route 50 bypass which circles around Salisbury, or the old favorite business route 13.  Leaving my house in Fruitland I choose to take a ride northward along route 13 towards Delaware.  As I travel I notice that a new strip mall has been placed on the eastern side of route 13 filling in one of the last gaps of commercial space.  The zoning and planning laws have proven extremely effective for the past decade designating the western side of route 13 for residential development and the eastern side as commercial and industrial space.  These zoning laws are applicable to those stretches of route 13 south of Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC).  Most of the residents like this setup because they have easy access to stores and don’t have to travel long distances; however, if the need arose to travel further from home, the new public transportation system could take them there for a minimal fee.  North of PRMC the land is a mixture of commercial and industrial sites that continues to the point at which the route 13 bypass intersects with route 13 business at Centre Road.  This is my most hated part of the drive because of all the hustle and bustle going on around me.  I have to constantly watch out for trucks and shoppers merging onto route 13.  I finally reach my destination, Wild Acres, a newly developed neighborhood on the eastern side of route 13 just beyond the route 13 bypass. 

            The year is 2002 and Salisbury does not look anything remotely like this.  The reason is because this is what the writers of the Wicomico County Comprehensive Guide from 1962 envisioned the town to look like in the year 2000.  Travelers and residents alike can tell that Salisbury looks nothing like this today except for small similarities.  Business route 13 is choked with strip malls, car washes, homes and industries.  Is it simply bad planning or the lack of political will to enact proper zoning laws that has allowed for the haphazard development that this county has seen in the past?  There have been many attempts to guide this county’s growth by way of comprehensive plans and numerous revisions to zoning laws; nonetheless, the failure to properly implement these designs have caused these plans to deviate from their supposed efficiency thereby creating sporadic, haphazard development and the loss of agricultural land. 

            Wicomico County is the, “regional center of economic activity” [1] on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and if we intend to keep this status, we must plan properly for the future.  There are currently debates going on with the Wicomico County Council concerning revising the current zoning ordinances.  These debates are heated at times between the Council and the residents, because many people see these new zoning laws as obtrusive and harmful to the county.  Our county is mainly agricultural and some of these new zoning ordinances could potentially harm this aspect of our county by allowing developers to subdivide farmland and build on the land in a haphazard manner.  If this were to happen than the revenue that this land generates and the rural nature of this county will likely be lost.  The proposed changes to the zoning laws cannot possibly fix the multitude of problems this county faces, from the depletion of natural resources to the loss of agricultural land to sprawling development; however, they do provide a framework for Wicomico County’s future growth

Early Rumblings

The earliest European to explore the Eastern Shore was Captain John Smith in 1608. [2]   He traveled up the Pocomoke River and found a tribe of Native Americans called the Wighcocomoco or Wicomico.  The Wicomico, Nause, Kusk’arawack, and the Nantaquack or Nanticoke tribes are the earliest known people to inhabit the area now known as Wicomico County. [3]   Their settlements occurred along the rivers and tributaries throughout the county because this was the easiest mode of transportation.  Many of the Europeans would follow this same settlement pattern as they slowly moved into this area.

            By 1732 there were enough people in the area to warrant the erection of a new town at the head of the Wicomico River.  “Commissioners are empowered to purchase 25 acres of land from William Winder, off a tract of land called ‘Pemberton’s Good Will,’ in the forks of the Wicomico River, and most convenient to the water and lay off a town called Salisbury.” [4]   The land was to be broken up into 20 lots; streets were to be provided and houses built that cover at least 400 square feet. [5]   The real reason why the houses had to be at least 400 square feet is still unknown but it could be to deter someone from buying all the land and then never developing it.  There are no official reports on how many of these lots were sold; however, when the land was surveyed by Worcester and Somerset County in the early 1800’s they noted that, “many of the lots taken up under the law passed in 1732 had disappeared and the site of the little town had been intersected by crooked lanes and paths.” [6]   This would set the stage for poor planning and development that still haunts this town two hundred and seventy years later.  Somerset and Worcester County surveyed Salisbury because Wicomico County had yet to be formed and it was on the border of these counties.

            Somerset and Worcester County would be broken up on October 5, 1867 by an act of the State of Maryland delegated committee to form Wicomico County.  There were heated debates on this matter at the convention because Somerset and Worcester County didn’t want to lose land and revenue from the taxpayers.  Maryland would also lose some money because funds for a new county seat would have to be allocated and a new courthouse and city hall would have to be erected.  The railroad was extended to Salisbury in 1860, which also made it more profitable to the county it was situated in.

            The railroad would bring in much needed revenue to the newly formed county.  After the Civil War two railways were added to Salisbury, one heading north to south and the other east to west intersecting within town limits.  The railroads helped to move goods and people into and out of town faster than the preexisting method, water travel.  It is because of this speed and efficiency that the industrial corridors that exist today began to establish.  Along with the railroads came more people to work in the town and its new businesses.  There were no laws on zoning or plans for the town’s growth at this time and haphazard development was occurring.

            Haphazard development was the main reason why fire ravaged Salisbury, twice.  The first fire occurred in 1860 and much of the town was destroyed.  You would think that the town officials would have taken some kind of measure to prevent this from happening again.  They didn’t, and it happened again in 1886, also destroying much of the town.  This time town officials took action.  “In 1888 a fire conscious council adopted ordinances providing for fire proof construction, and the widening and realignment of streets, thereby establishing the pattern for building development and street layout found downtown today.” [7]   According to Charles Truitt, author of “Historic Salisbury Update, 1662-1982,” only structures of brick, stone, or iron with slate or other non-combustible material as a roof were permitted and street width was established from four to seven feet. [8]   These new measures would help to prevent fire from jumping from building to building and provide for easier travel along the roadways.  It is a shame that it took two devastating fires to create these early zoning laws.  One can only think what might have happened if the act passed in 1732 had been followed.  Streets would have been laid out properly and fire may have never been able to destroy the town because it would not have been planned haphazardly.  On the other hand, “this fire really marks the transition of Salisbury from a country town to a modern city, and since the fire its growth has been twice as fast as ever before in its history.” [9]

            Who would have thought that a man from Detroit would have such a profound impact on Salisbury and the rest of the United States?  His name was Henry Ford and he invented the assembly line in 1908, which in turn led to his affordable automobile that changed everybody’s life.  The automobile allowed people to become more mobile and encouraged growth by giving people the freedom to go where they wanted.  With trains and boats one could get to a certain point but traveling from that point required a horse and buggy.  This was slow going.  The automobile allowed for faster travel and a new sense of independence. 

            With the growing size of the town, officials saw it as necessary that they must exercise control: consequently, they formed a Zoning Commission, which presented a zoning map to the council in April 1931. [10]   The map became part of a zoning code and provided four land use categories, residential, business, light industrial, and industrial. [11]   The code provided for minimum lot coverage, yards, height regulations, density of population, and the location of buildings. [12]   This was the first major step that Salisbury had taken since the fire of 1886 to help regulate the growth within the town.  By enacting these laws the council was trying to ensure that proper growth would occur and haphazard development would not.

            Wicomico County Population, 1930 - 2020

Source: Bureau of the Census, Census of Population, 1930-1990

1 Figures for 2000, 2010, and 2020 are based on projections by Salisbury-Wicomico Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development

Wicomico County and Salisbury saw a growth explosion after World War II.  The population increased by 23.7 percent between 1950 and 1960 and this caused the city to reevaluate the direction they wanted to go in. [13]   Salisbury could continue with a minimal zoning code that was adopted in 1931 or they could try to influence the way the town and county grows by making a planning guide for developers to follow.  One of the causes of this growth explosion was that the Bay Bridge had been completed in 1952, providing easier access to the Eastern Shore.  Before the Bay Bridge opened people could only get to the shore by way of ferry.  I don’t know about you but I have been on the Bay when a sudden summer storm springs up, and the Bay gets pretty rough.  This would have made me think twice about getting on a ferry, and I am sure a reason like this deterred many people from crossing the Bay.  With the Bay Bridge weather was not a factor anymore, and even better, neither was weight of a vehicle.  This allowed tractor-trailers to get into the region easier and move out more goods than was previously possible.  City officials realized with all this new growth that it was time for a plan to be developed which would guide the growth of Salisbury for the future.

1962 Comprehensive Guide

In 1962 the Wicomico County Planning and Zoning Commission and Salisbury Planning Commission published the Comprehensive Guide for the Development of the City of Salisbury and Wicomico County.  There were three main objectives of the guide; the first was to spell out the future requirements, location, and relationships of various facilities and the land, and to give consideration to the needs of the community. [14]   This arose because of industries moving closer to residential areas and the possible contamination of natural resources by the pollution they generated.  The public water system had an iron-eating bacterium that clogged wells and pipes and the city wanted to avoid ground water contamination.  This objective also came out of the importance that a first impression makes, when coming into town. [15]   Officials did not want the first thing that travelers saw to be unsightly industries or developments because that does not stimulate growth.  Would you move into a town if the first thing you saw was a big old smoke stack belching out smoke? 

The second objective was, “to upgrade present standards of development and, through the benefits of taking a long range view of these needs, to establish a pattern for orderly development that would not be possible if done on a piecemeal basis.” [16]   There were two reasons for this objective.  The first was the loss of agricultural land to development.  This began to happen more frequently after World War II when developers would acquire farmland and divide it into the maximum number of lots allowed by law. Agricultural industry is very important to Wicomico County, because it brings in a lot of revenue and provides a rural feel.  The rural feel is important to the Eastern Shore, in the eyes of politicians, because it is one of the main things that separates it from the rest of the state.  It shows a slower lifestyle of days of old and allows one to escape the hubbub of the city.  The second reason for this objective was to control scatteration.  Scatteration is the effect of building without a uniform code and allows the developer to leapfrog parcels of land.  What this means is that one parcel of land would be developed, the parcel next to it undeveloped, and the parcel next to that one developed.  If these homes wanted or needed public facilities such as water or sewage removal it would be more costly to the city to extend the utilities because of their scattered pattern.  Scatteration was occurring because the automobile allowed for greater movement and there were no laws to prohibit it from happening.  People were also moving to the outlying areas of the city and suburbs because they could afford a larger parcel of land, to escape city taxes and societal problems, and because it allowed greater freedom for them to do what they wanted with their land.  

The third objective was to act as a guide for the preparation of the zoning ordinance. [17]   The creators of this guide realized the importance of zoning laws and proper planning and the positive effect they could have on development.  Zoning districts had been laid out without a plan in the 1950’s, zoning codes were adopted in 1931 but no zoning districts, and the resulting pattern of land use that was produced placed many limitations on achieving an orderly pattern of development. [18]   “Practically speaking, zoning regulations serve to protect and stabilize property values; preserve the character of neighborhoods whether they are commercial or residential, and regulate population densities in order to adequately provide public utilities designed to serve each area.” [19]  

The creators of this Guide realized that this plan is never a finished product and must change with the future.   They did not place any implementation methods that were set in stone and this ultimately hurt the Guide.  The creators left it up to the developers to embrace and follow the Guide.  Some did, but a majority of developers did not.  Haphazard growth and scatteration continued to occur within city limits and in the county and a second attempt would be made to fix these problems in 1975.

A Revised Comprehensive Plan

The Comprehensive Guide of 1962 was a new step forward for the city of Salisbury, but by the mid 1970s the city and the county were faced with some new problems.  The growing cost of oil and gasoline for automobiles and the rapid depletion of natural resources were some problems.  People were moving away from the metro core area, a five-mile radius from the center of town, and into the outlying areas of the county. This meant that they had to drive farther to get to their jobs which in turn caused more pollution and a larger dependence of natural resources.  Salisbury did not have a convenient mass transportation system in place to help this problem and they still do not.  Another problem was the need for adequate housing in and around town.  Many homes were showing their age with inadequate plumbing or the lack thereof, poor electrical wiring and deteriorating roofs and siding.   While the more affluent moved to the outskirts into new homes the poor were left with inadequate housing.  Leaders and planners saw the necessity of bringing people back into the metro core area not only for economic reasons, more tax revenue, but also to preserve our rural appearance which they believed appealed to everyone.

The Salisbury-Wicomico County Planning and Zoning Commission developed the Salisbury Metro Core Comprehensive Plan of 1975 to govern the future physical growth and development of the Salisbury area. [20]   Another reason they had developed it was because there was a state prescribed date of January 1, 1976 as to when such a plan needed to be adopted. [21]   The 1975 Plan departs considerably from the 1962 Guide, particularly with reference to the geographic areas considered.  The 1975 Plan is designed for the entire county and clearly distinguishes among agricultural, urban-suburban, and rural aspects of the overall community welfare. [22]   It stresses six major points of interest, a statement of community goals, a land use plan element, a transportation element, a community facilities plan element, a housing and community redevelopment element and an implementation element. [23]   Some of these elements were addressed in the 1962 Guide but no real answers were provided on how to fix them and the 1975 Plan attempted to solve these issues.

There were also four main environmental problems of physical development noted in the Plan.  By this time, there were procedures to test the soil for stability of septic waste disposal. [24]   Some of the ground water sources were becoming contaminated because the soil was allowing waste to percolate through it.  It was found that the majority of land suitable for septic waste disposal resided within the metro core area and the outlying areas of the county had the possibility of contaminating the underground water supply.  Another environmental concern was the pollution of surface and subsurface water systems. [25]   This pollution stemmed from a lack of knowledge of the ability of soils to percolate wastes.  It was a big problem because many residents were not hooked up to public water supplies. If their water became polluted then they had to move, and the land might not be able to be used for many years after.  A third environmental concern addressed was the development within floodplains. [26]   Wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas were being filled in and then developed.  This practice was potentially dangerous in the event the Wicomico watershed ever received an overabundance of rain and it flooded the Wicomico River.  Wetlands are not only an important ecological factor; they also help to deter rising water by soaking it up into their soil.  They are nature’s equivalent to the generator and sandbags.  The last environmental problem noted was the loss of prime agricultural lands. [27]   The loss of this land would not only affect the economic stability but would also remove the rural feel of the county, which the politicians liked so much.  The plan stresses the need for the preservation and protection of the open character of the county and its fragile ecological areas. [28]  

The comprehensive plan noted some important growth factors to the county and the metro core area since the development of the 1962 Guide: the finding of the Paleochannel and the importance of the route 13 bypass. [29]   The Paleochannel is a vast underground reservoir of water that was left there after the last ice age.  The Paleochannel helped stress the need for extending water service.  This underground reservoir would allow a public supply of water that has yet to be matched in this county.  Instead of drilling a well and hoping it never goes dry, citizens now had a viable alternative, hooking into the city’s almost never-ending water supply.  The route 13 bypass was important because it moved traffic off the heavily congested business route 13 and provided for new business opportunities up north.  The route 13 bypass would ultimately lead to the scattered development that one sees, unfortunately, while driving northward.  Planners at this time were not able to see the blight that it would eventually cause.  

The biggest difference between the 1975 Plan and the 1962 Guide is that it lays out recommended implementation measures such as capital improvement programs, eminent domain, cluster development and mandatory dedication of land for open space and recreation just to name a few.  The reason this was done is because Article 66B and the state of Maryland required it from a comprehensive plan. [30]   So who is supposed to follow these recommended implementation measures?  “The recommended implementation measures involve agencies at all levels of government, private organizations, developers, and the public.  However, the final responsibility for the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan rests with the citizenry and their elected representatives.” [31]   The people who made this plan left the responsibility up to the citizenry so that they could not be blamed for poor development.  Developers were supposed to embrace this Plan and use it as a model on how to build Salisbury.  Leaving the implementation of this Plan up to citizens and developers shows that the local government did not have the time, money, or the desire to ensure that it was followed.

1982 and 1997 Comprehensive Plans

In 1982, the Salisbury-Wicomico County Department of Planning, Zoning and Community Development made a plan that focused strictly on the county.  The comprehensive plan was basically an extension of the 1976 Plan and has many of the same goals and objectives as its predecessor.  It did, however, have nine development concept principles that have become central to the planning of the County.  Wicomico County wanted to maintain a moderate growth rate in order to develop in a timely and orderly fashion.  They also wanted to provide a wide variety of development sites, offering opportunity and freedom of choice.  In addition, the Department wanted to facilitate the efficient delivery of public and private services such as water, electric, sewage, etc.  The Department of Planning and Zoning also desired to provide easy movement and access for people and exchange of goods.  A notable principle of development is the conservation of agricultural lands.  Planners accommodate this by respecting the significant natural environment of the county.  Along those same lines, collectively the County recognizes and upholds desirable trends like preserving rural heritage, and preserving significant historic areas and structures.  This plan would be revised in 1997.

The 1997 Comprehensive Plan for Wicomico County is a compilation of the previous Plans and Guides with only three new elements.  They are natural resource and sensitive area protection, historic and cultural preservation, and the protection of mineral resources for future supply.  “The Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act of 1992, established a State mandate for all local governments to revise their plans and implementing regulations.” [32]   This is why a new Plan was developed not because county officials thought it was time to put an end to haphazard development, depletion of agricultural lands and wetlands, lack of adequate public transportation, loss of natural resources, etc. but because a state mandate required them to.  Would the County Council have allocated the funds necessary to rewrite a comprehensive plan if the State had not told them to?  Probably not because it costs a lot of money to collect the information that goes into a comprehensive guide and that money could be better spent elsewhere.  Some good came out of this Plan however, in the way of implementation.

The Salisbury-Wicomico County Planning, Zoning Office and Community Development realized that enforcement of the implementations was important.  “Even the most well conceived plans and ordinances will lose effectiveness without consistent and equitable administration and enforcement.  The responsibility for administering and enforcing the Comprehensive Plan and its associated ordinances and regulations rests primarily with the County Council, Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals and the City/County staff.” [33]   Before the 1997 Plan implementation was left up to the citizens and developers but now these groups had to take responsibility.  In order to implement the Plan new zoning ordinances would have to be made.

The 1997 Comprehensive Plan notes that the “present County Zoning Ordinance has a number of weaknesses. It lacks of coordination between zoning in the County and incorporated communities, encourages strip development along highways, is not based on a comprehensive long-range land use plan, and the majority of the County is zoned ”Agricultural-Rural Residential”, a district which permits numerous unrelated uses of land.” [34]   The writers of the previous Plans and Guides left it up to the citizens and developers to grow properly while the zoning laws they had made did the polar opposite.  To correct these weaknesses the Plan outlined recommended revisions to the zoning ordinance and zoning maps.  Some of these revisions are still taking place today, five years later.

Present Day

Salisbury and Wicomico County are still faced with many of the same problems addressed in the Comprehensive Guide of 1962.  People are moving out of the metro core area and into the surrounding areas.  Farmland is depleting and many people are still not connected to public utilities such as sewer and water service.  Haphazard growth is still occurring and inadequate housing still plagues people.  There are debates occurring between the County Council, City Council, and the Zoning and Planning Commission on revisions to the zoning ordinances and zoning maps.  They realize the importance that proper zoning laws can have on growth, industry, natural resources and county preservation. 

One of those debates is over open space.  Open space helps keep the county rural and less developed, which gives this County character.  Some of the factors in allowing open space to occur are the current zoning laws and proposed changes to those codes.  One of the proposed changes is that a developer must leave half of the land, bought to be developed, as open space.  What this means is that if you buy a hundred acres and want to develop it then fifty acres must remain as open space.  However, open space encompasses roads, unusable land, and buffer zones.  It can also be used for agriculture, forestry, or mineral extraction which makes it sound better than it actually is.

Another debate going on right now is the amount of parcels allowed on lots.  This is called clustering.  Right now there are two different ways to develop on the land bought by developers.  Developers can build one house for every fifteen acres, which does not need any open space provision or they can build one house for every three acres and half of the land must be left as open space.  Factors that determine if land can be developed are percolation tests done by the Health Department, whether the land is suitable for development, and in what year the land was purchased.

Revisions to the zoning ordinances and maps is a timely and, at times, a nerve racking experience because they must evolve before the County does.  To compound this the new ordinances must go through public meetings, Council meetings, and at times State meetings, just to name a few, before they become adopted.  Wicomico County citizens can not blame just one person or group for the haphazard development that has occurred in their county.  We all are to blame in some small way.  By moving outside city limits and contributing to scatteration and the depletion of farmland or by not attending zoning ordinance meetings or other public meetings.  By believing that other people will take care of the problem and you can just live your life.  By not going out to vote and if you do vote by not knowing what the candidates really stand for.  The problem that Wicomico County has is just a microcosm of planning and zoning problems that the whole nation is faced with.  People want to move farther and farther away from cities to escape the crime, the poor and own more land.  Yet while they move away from the city they want all the comforts that the city provided such as shopping, laundry mats, fast food, restaurants, etc.  Strip malls and bad planning followed.  There are no easy answers for this county or any other in the United States except to get involved and help to shape your community.