Farmers Protest Rezoning Bill

Source from:  washingtonpost.com Thursday, September 21, 2006; Page B02 09/25/2006

About 300 farmers and property owners from southern Prince George's County protested a proposal yesterday by the County Council to create a zone that requires 25-acre lots in that rural part of the county. In that area, the minimum lot size is five acres. The legislation would put several restrictions in the new zone, including prohibitions against swimming pools, nurseries, garden centers and certain types of satellite dishes. Proponents say the bill was designed partly to allow the region to maintain its rural character and to manage growth. More than a dozen farmers drove their tractors to Upper Marlboro to demonstrate at a council hearing yesterday. Several told the council's zoning committee that the legislation would depreciate their property, causing them to lose equity in their homes and possibly forcing them into foreclosure or bankruptcy. Bernard Duvall stood near his red Ford Workmaster at a parking meter outside the County Administration Building. Duvall said he owns 50 acres in Croom that once were home to a tobacco farm that his great-grandfather tended. "We're tobacco farmers and we're out of business, and now the only thing we have is our land," Duvall said. "If I wanted to sell a five-acre lot, it would be a good little piece of change, but a 25-acre lot? Who's going to buy that?" Duvall said. Council member Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Laurel), the bill's sponsor, said that there are problems with the measure as it is written and that revisions would be made before it is sent to the council for consideration. Enditem