Greater Salisbury Committee: Call for support of Envision Salisbury Master Plan

Dear Mayor Randy Tayor and Salisbury City Council members, on behalf of the 100-plus members of the Greater Salisbury Committee, I write you in regards to the recent discussions about development in and around the city.

In March of 2016, the City of Salisbury adopted Resolution No. 2600: “A Resolution of the City of Salisbury, Maryland approving and adopting the stated objectives of the twenty (2015-2035) year Envision Salisbury Master Plan.”

We encourage each of you to review the plan if you have not already done so. You will see that the process to create this Envision Salisbury plan was a fully transparent, public process that involved more than 2,500 citizens over several years. Public input and opportunity to see and weigh in on it were extensive.

That Master Plan laid out a public/private roadmap for the city to follow, in seven distinct areas of the city, surrounding and including Downtown — and it literally invited investor/developers to the proverbial table. Fortunately for Salisbury, many of those investor/developers accepted that invitation — and began to engage in active development projects to bring the Envision SBY concept to life.

As you know, more than a few of those developments are now on the horizon, the very near horizon. Additionally, nearly all of these developments are occurring on lots that the city has sold to investor/developers: a planned hotel/conference hotel on Lot 10; several planned residential developments, on Lots 1, 11, 15, 30 and 5; a planned residential complex on the former Daily Times lot, key for TidalHealth’s success with its new Graduate Medical Education programs; and Marina Landing.

Separate from these developments are those laid out by the city’s “Here is Home” program. Many of these residential developments, in the form of luxury and new market rate neighborhoods (not located in the Downtown area) are either under construction or in the planning phase.

Taken as a whole, the Downtown area developments alone represent more than $200 million in investments into the heart of our community. Most of these developments have been supported by the State of Maryland, by current Governor Wes Moore and by his predecessor, Governor Larry Hogan. Governors Moore and Hogan believed so much in the vision laid out by the City of Salisbury, via its Envision SBY concept, that they invested in it — with approximately $6 million in direct state funding. Cities in Maryland fight hard for this kind of support, and thanks to the efforts of the City of Salisbury and our Lower Shore Delegation, we’ve received the kind of state backing that many cities in Maryland would covet.

We understand the scrutiny that all of this development is receiving, now that it’s coming to fruition. And we are also aware of the recent Circuit Court decree regarding Salisbury’s special exceptions and density rules. The due diligence being taken by each of you at this time, regarding the state monies received, and the development concepts that were put into motion, are appropriate and expected. We recognize that both Mayor Taylor and a few of the Council members are new to the job, and that you are doing your jobs. We applaud that.

With that said, we respectfully ask the Mayor and Council to:

• Honor the contracts that have been signed with the investor/developers since 2017.
• Work with the investor/developers to move forward with these developments.
• Accept all state monies, and allocate them as stipulated, sooner rather than later. Giving money back to the state is never a good idea. It makes getting state support for ANY future projects — development or otherwise — difficult.

GSC has been a steadfast supporter of the Envision SBY Master Plan for many reasons. It provides the “vehicle” to bring to bear the long-held belief by Salisbury’s political and business leadership that “heads in beds” is the key ingredient to making Salisbury’s Downtown successful. It provides direct economic benefit to the community, it is forward thinking, and it’s transformational.

If you, collectively, wish to develop an alternative to the Envision SBY Master Plan? That’s obviously your right, as elected officials. Short of a new plan? We encourage the city to move forward with the plan that has already been approved.

Mike Dunn is the president and CEO of the Greater Salisbury Committee.