What's The Issue?

This is not about DOCKS!  Let the applicants build their DOCKS.  It's about revised applications for two BRIDGES/WALKWAYS over sensitive wetlands that are that are estimated to be 300 to over 400 feet in length.  Read on......

If you'd like to help stop MDE from issuing building permits, take action now!  Demand that the Board of Public Works hear this issue.  Please email:

Governor Martin O'Malley:  O'Malley Email

Treasurer Nancy Kopp:  Kopp Email

Comptroller Peter Franchot:  Franchot Email

Board of Public Works:  BPW Email

Secretary of the MDE Shari Wilson:  Wilson Email

The Capital:  Letters to Editor, The Capital  

The Baltimore Sun:  Letters to Editor, The Baltimore Sun

 

It's fairly Simple:  Three residents of Olde Severna Park have applied for permits that will grant them the ability to construct 440', 640', and 660' bridges and docks across the tidal ponds located adjacent to Sullivan Cove. The bridge portion of the causeways will be approximately 3' wide, have hand rails, and will be raised about six foot above mean low water.  Because there is no access to the tidal ponds for construction barges, equipment will be be off loaded and there will be significant damage to portions of the ponds during construction.  Even if the work is done without heavy equipment, the damage to the wetlands will be extensive.  Nothing this extensive can be constructed without significant damage to a very sensitive habitat. We are against the BRIDGES/WALKWAYS, not the docks.

Many residents and environmental experts as well feel that the damage to an already sick Severn River will be immense.  The Department of Natural Resources, the Severn Riverkeeper Association and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation all agree that the construction of these bridges will cause harm to the sensitive ecosystem that serves as the super kidneys of the Severn River to filter out dangerous and polluting contaminants.

Sullivan Cove is a gem to be cherished as it possesses one of only four stands of the endangered Atlantic White Cedar on the entire western shore of the Bay.  The tidal ponds act as a sanctuary and nursery for many types of aquatic life and migratory birds.

Olde Severna Park Improvement Association has been involved in a lengthy court action regarding riparian rights and now stands firmly against building the piers based upon issues related to our environment.