The wealthy owner once envisioned luxury marinas, hotels, nightclubs, thousands of homes and condos on his 605 pristine waterfront acres in Baltimore County?s quiet Back River Neck peninsula ? a miniature Ocean City.
Now, 30 years later, owner Leonard Berger has placed all but 57 acres in permanent environmental conservation, including a 128-acre site where ecologists have literally created wetlands that will one day be thriving amphibian breeding grounds.
So what made Berger change his mind? His story of compromise between private investment interests and residents determined to preserve their community is unusual, officials said.
“We?ve come together,” Berger said. “And the county?s planning board really applauded us for setting an example of working together.”
The parties agreed last month to construction of 101 new homes with plenty of rain gardens and natural buffers, plus the redevelopment of about 45 blighted summer cottages, said Jim Mitchell, president of the Holly Neck Conservation Association. Berger described the homes as villas, or four attached homes that will be “clustered” to preserve open space. A community advisory group helped select a builder and design for the homes.
But, he acknowledged, the land wasn?t all charitable donation. Berger profited when the state and county bought more than half of his property after Maryland legislators passed the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Protection Program in the 1980s. Baltimore Gas & Electric company also bought land, as did the State Highway Administration to restore and create wetlands in a mitigation project after it expanded Route 43 in Middle River.
And community activists say the debate wasn?t always amicable.
After Berger came up with a revised plan calling for 116 homes in 2003, the group said that was too many and tried to take the issue to referendum. The date to file their request came just after Hurricane Isabel, and county officials denied an extension. The activists cried foul.
When advisory group member Jackie Nickel e-mailed Berger to describe the stress the proposal was placing on the community, she said she asked him to reduce the number of homes, simply to restore peace.
He came back offering 101 homes. The community agreed and the county ? which was prepared to approve 116 ? consented.
Nickel said Berger later thanked her, and Mitchell says a few lingering concerns aside, the project will improve water quality.
“It?s a trade-off,” he said. “But we?re in harmony. This is the best you can ask for.”
