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F.O.A.D.

On 7/31/13 10:40 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2013 06:49:49 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 7/31/13 1:10 AM, wrote:
On 31 Jul 2013 00:52:25 GMT, F.O.A.D. wrote:

wrote:

That is the kind of thing that makes life confusing. Little towns like
that can easily decide that they want their own building department
and a kingdom is born

It's not confusing. If you need a permit you contact the county permit
office in prince Frederick.

That stays true until a town like CB sets up it's own building
department and makes up it's own rules.

That can be anything from strange local amendments to the simple
problem of which version of the code they are on. There is a new
version every 3 years but various building departments adopt them on
their own schedule.
Something that is legal here may be against code across the street if
it is a different jurisdiction on a different version of the code,
even before they amend it

Chesapeake Beach has a population of about 6,000. It doesn't have the
resources to set up its own building/inspection department. None of the
bitty towns in this county do. What they do have are zoning areas that
help prevent the sort of unsightly urban commercial sprawl you see in,
say, Florida. We're not going to have some crappy convenience store or
gas station opening up on a vacant lot a mile away.

That is what the motivation generally is, that and the false hope of
generating revenue.
I am surprised that beach town has not really grown any over the last
40 years but I guess it is not a place where people want to move to.
You usually see this kingdom building in places with growth.
The little town south of me is a good example. It has seen a 10x
growth in the last 30 years and they have set up their own building
department. They can't alter the building code but they can choke
growth by fees, procedural means and zoning.

Actually, Chesapeake Beach is a place people want to move to, as
evidenced by all the nice new townhouses on the waterfront, a high-rise
condo on the waterfront, and single family houses and townhouses a short
distance away. But it isn't a place a *lot* of people move to, and I'm
sure everyone is thankful for that.

We're a couple of miles east of the main N/S route around here, Maryland
Route 4, and virtually all the commercial construction around here is
out there. North and south of the commercial areas there is commercial
construction and residential streets coming off the main route.

The county works pretty hard to maintain our semi-rural,
semi-agricultural environment, which is a big draw for those of us who
live out here.