How Far Is Too Far?

Barbara Buehl, executive director of the Allegany Chamber of Commerce, sees Terrapin Run as "just an evolution of where our county is going." Buehl herself moved six years ago to Allegany from Howard County, where she commuted to work in the District.

After she moved out, she said, "I actually commuted for a while. I went several times a week. I have to tell you, I didn't feel any more stressed driving from here to D.C. than driving from Howard County to D.C. It may have taken longer, but the last half of it [heading home] is a nice drive."

Despite disagreement over Terrapin Run, there is consensus that a metropolitan market already exists. "Everyone here commutes somewhere," said Dave Reusing, a former builder and developer who moved from Anne Arundel County four years ago to refurbish and run a 1916 inn at the top of Town Hill. "There's no work out here."

Brothers William and Wayne Joy are Allegany County natives who live near Reusing's hotel. To get to their jobs at the State Department, they leave at 4 a.m. They've been doing this for 15 and 20 years, respectively, driving 113 miles and two hours each way. "You go down there for the money," said William Joy, 38.

"If we leave at 4, by the time we get to 270, there's bumper-to-bumper, but it's not stopping all the time. Everybody that lives closer to work tells us we're crazy for making that drive," he said. But, he adds, housing is more costly "down there."

Not surprisingly, opposition has developed to Terrapin Run. Citizens for Smart Growth in Allegany County, whose members include both transplants and natives, has argued that the proposed site lacks necessary infrastructure and that water and sewer problems are insurmountable. "I understand what he's trying to do," Reusing said. "But it's the wrong project in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The county planning board approved the project in June. But critics note that the county's comprehensive plan calls for this area to remain primarily farmland. To proceed, Carnock had to get a special zoning exception from the county board of appeals. This entailed a proceeding of unprecedented length this summer. It is expected to conclude Tuesday night with a final rebuttal from Carnock, closing arguments, open board deliberations and a vote.

As the controversy has flared up, some officials have tempered their early pro-growth rhetoric. "If Terrapin Run meets all standards, I'd be for it," the formerly unequivocal Stakem said in an interview.

Buehl said: "At this stage, there's a difference between the desire and the do-ability. People are concerned -- at least I am -- that everything, like the challenges on the water, the environment, will be taken care of by the process. To say unequivocally we're for it is difficult. But are we for the concept? Do we hope it can happen? Absolutely."

Still, both sides of the debate agree that, as Dave Williams, the developer's local public relations man, put it: "The concentric rings of Maryland's growth from the Beltway have reached our borders."

Or, as Dave Dorsey, the zoning board secretary, whose wife commuted daily for nine months from Cumberland to a job in Falls Church, said: "The middle of nowhere might be moving westward."