THE MASTER PLAN

Back in 1973 my Family moved from New York to Bowie, Maryland. Bowie was actually a pretty cool community built by the Levitt Family. Tens of thousands of homes with about 7 different styles. What I liked about it was the idea that no one seemed to be wealthier than the next guy. An average home in the early 1970's was around $15,000.00.

Bowie was filled with a ton of Washington D.C. employees. The school system in elementary and middle school was not bad but when you got the the high school level things got pretty bad. They bussed kids in from all over PG County. The Afro American kids were jealous of us rich kids, (YEAH RIGHT) and the clash could sometimes be pretty brutal.

As time went on the desire to live in Bowie started growing like mad. A house for sale didn't last on the market for more than a few days. The Afro American community was leaving the D.C. area and buying up homes in Bowie like there was no tomorrow. Growing up in New York City this was cool with me and quite frankly it was about time.

The old row houses in D.C. were being revitalized and poor communities in the past were becoming very desired rebuilt homes and were selling as fast as they went on the market. You might say D.C.'s own Code & Compliance was forcing people out of those old neighborhoods slamming home owners with fines strong enough in which it was either no longer affordable to fix things or people simply got sick and tired of the constant abuse. Bowie had no such Code & Compliance, yet everyone truly took good care of their properties.

Bowie also had its very own Waste Water Treatment Plant and Police Department. Is ANY of this starting to sound familiar?

Bowie had two small Malls and we could always go to Annapolis Mall or even the Landover Mall. Things really started to change in the early 1980's. New fancy developments were being built for the wealthier people and property no one ever thought would be developed out of the main core were the hot ticket. I've seen some of those $15,000.00 homes from the 1970's then sell for as much as $400,000.00, it's true.

The catch was, taxes on those same properties which were about a quarter of an acre were now, (1980's) around $2,800.00 a year. New Malls were being constructed just about everywhere you turned. Rt. 301 became a new metropolis and those who were rebuilding their old Levitt homes were now RENTING them out like crazy.

I share all of this information with you today because I did an article years ago about how the new Salisbury Police Station and the new $14,000,000.00 Salisbury Fire Palace were being built on the west side of town. It was pretty clear to me that we were going to experience the same kind of restructuring I had seen 30 years earlier in Bowie. Since many of you didn't watch Bowie as closely as I had, I wanted to express my concerns back then.

Then came all of the pressure placed on those property owners on the north prong of the river. The Tilghman Administration really started cracking down on riverfront property owners and presented this Master Plan for that area, excluding many of those long standing businesses currently located there.

Now we're seeing yet another liberal Mayor step in on the sly trying to sell the community on his new Master Plan for Downtown Salisbury. Desperate, he even goes so far as to create a petition drive in the hopes of garnishing enough people to support his idea with a hidden agenda, as usual. So how do you get the Afro American communities to accept such a plan. Raise taxes enough, send in Code & Compliance and fine these people as much as you can and slowly create a subsidized housing community as a place to land, (so to speak) once things get too unbearable.

When you have 30 years worth of City Council's who CAN'T seem to come together with a Downtown plan, give up. Relocate those other, (west side) communities to an area you CAN'T revitalize and create a new (BOWIE) community where the land is cheap and generations of future developers can have a field day developing.

Annex Sassafras Meadows for no reason and run a pipe annexation to the furthest west end are as you can for FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.

Am I getting too far ahead of you, or are you finally seeing the light?

One reason I have always done well with Salisbury News is because I could see way ahead of most people. If you think for a second I may be wrong, DON'T VOTE FOR ME. I see Ireton's plan as an extension of the old Tilghman Administrations plans. They will use government funding to create a whole new community Downtown and it's no wonder why CERTAIN people support Ireton's "Downtown Projects".

While progress may be something we may need, let's be fair about it and call it what it is. Expect to see a new Mall near the Bypass on the west side of Salisbury and remember, Salisbury extends all the way out to Memory Garden Lane, then all the way north on Spring Hill Road to the Delaware line. Mind you, that is NOT in the City limits but you mark my words, it will be and that is where you'll see growth. The current Mall is now somewhere near 30 years old. It may be all we've got right now but you go take a trip to Bowie and see what all of us NEVER thought would happen, happen.