Court ruling 'huge victory' for rural tier preservation

Rural tier preservationists are claiming victory following a Dec. 23 decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals that orders Prince George's County planning officials to reconsider a plan for a 118-acre, 20-home development in Aquasco.

The Greater Baden-Aquasco Citizens Association and other residents filed a petition in Prince George's County Circuit Court for a review shortly after planning officials approved the preliminary subdivision plan in 2006 for a plot known as the Schultze Property.

The association argued the plan would spur more growth than the county's General Plan allowed for in the rural tier, a southeastern section of the county characterized by its agricultural history and its residents' fierce opposition to development.

In a unanimous decision, the seven-judge court found that planning officials failed to consider whether the preliminary plan upheld a section of the General Plan that limits growth in the rural tier to 1 percent of total county growth.