Sharptown Ready-Mix Concrete Plant Proposal:

The Friends of the Nanticoke River petitioned the Wicomico County Board of Zoning Appeals in August of 2002 to deny a request for a special exception to to construct a ready-mix concrete and crushed product operation near Sharptown.  Unfortunately, the Board of Zoning Appeals did not view these objections as sufficient for denial of the request.  The applicants withdrew their application for the crushing operation, and the Board granted the special exception for the concrete plant. 

This decision was appealed by two nearby residents of the site to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, and in June of 2004, we learned that the granting of the special exception had been reversed.  The Court ruled that the special exception was improperly granted since the land in question is actually owned by Sharptown and restricted to use for a “public purpose.”

The objections voiced by the Friends centered on the following points:

1. The existing property is surrounded by pristine land, including a Nature Conservancy site on Plum Creek, a direct tributary of the Nanticoke River. 

2. The proposed project represented a significant alteration from current activities on the site, which now holds a small quarry operation.

3. The proposed cement ready-mix business has serious environmental impacts, including the hazardous chemicals used to clean the concrete mixers, the potential for spills of fuel or chemicals stored and used on site, the production of large quantities of dust, and noise generation.

4. The soils at this site are sandy and contamination of nearby waters of Plum Creek could have occurred both through runoff and through percolation of groundwater into the creek. 

5. The large scale of the proposed ready-mix plant was excessive the small size of the site, and buffering its environmental impacts from the surrounding properties would have been extremely difficult.

6. The project was inconsistent with Wicomico County’s  Comprehensive Plan, which specifies reducing, not increasing, industrial zoning in such areas, as well as adhering to the current zoning laws when necessary to protect nearby residents and the general welfare of the county.