Anne Arundel County should manage the 78-square mile Severn River watershed as one unit, rather than continue to allow piecemeal development, and repair environmental damage caused by older communities, a draft study for the Severn River Commission says.
In addition, new communities in the watershed should be squeezed into clusters, leaving other areas pristine, while communities built before storm water control laws were enacted should be required to fix their drainage systems, the study says.
The commission, a watchdog group appointed by the county executive and Annapolis mayor, is recommending that the county take measures to preserve the remaining forests near the river and its tributaries.
"In the watershed itself, there are a lot of pressures for growth," said A. L. "Red" Waldron, chairman of the commission.
In 1989, half the watershed was forested and another 15 percent either was open space or farmed.
The watershed's population is projected to increase 40 percent from 1980 to 2020, according to the $20,000 study done for the commission by Environmental Resources Management Inc. of Annapolis.
The study, Mr. Waldron said, "is an attempt to come up with a local plan for foreseeing the direction in which the Severn River watershed ought to go in the future."
Commission members are taking the draft plan to community groups within the watershed through February for comment from residents.
The final plan is expected to be released late next spring, in time to be used in the comprehensive rezoning process the county is starting, Mr. Waldron said.
David W. Blaha, an author of the plan, said county officials might be asked to enact laws to allow transfer of development rights, establish "greenbelts" along creeks and provide more parks and nature trails.
The report challenges communities to come up with projects volunteers can do alone, in conjunction with local agencies or by using grant money, said commission member Jay Schwarz. It also recommends improved public access to the water, which commission members said should not be viewed as a call for more piers and more boats.
"We are pushing to get lands into public trusts, as parks," Mr. Schwarz said. "Take Quiet Waters [Park]. You cannot put your boat in there. But you walk along the water. To me, this whole thing is about education. It's tough to educate someone if they can't see what we're talking about.
But at Tuesday night's Severn River Association meeting, some people questioned greater public access and feared waterfront communities could be overwhelmed.
"I think you are wrong. We have Sandy Point Park and a great big bay," said Kay Merrick of Pointfield Landing.
She said that crowds should be lured to parks that have facilities that can accommodate them.
"I just don't think it's practical," she said later. "It's not nice if everyone walks along the river. They drop their trash. They bring their dogs."