JUDGE SAUSE ISSUES INJUNCTION AGAINST FOUR SEASONS,
ORDERS IMMEDIATE HALT TO ALL WORK ON PROPOSED PROJECT
February 10, 2006. -- The proposed 1350-unit Four Seasons development on Kent Island was dealt a major setback yesterday, when the Circuit Court ordered both the County and the developer K. Hovnanian not to take any further action to move the project forward.
In a lawsuit brought by Kent Island resident Bob Foley and other neighbors of the project, the Court ruled that project must stop because no maps exist that accurately delineate the approval given by the County to Hovnanian in 2001 to develop in the critical area.
The Court’s 28-pag! e opinion and judgment leave it up to the County whether to try now, four and one-half years later, to create accurate maps. If the County does try to create new maps, the Court’s ruling is that any such maps will have to be adopted by the current Commissioners in open, public sessions and then submitted to the Court for a hearing on whether the new maps in fact are an accurate depiction of what was approved in 2001.
The Court sets a deadline of June 1 of this year for a determination by it with respect to any new maps. If none are adopted and submitted, or if it proves impossible to create accurate maps, then the injunction against Four Seasons will become permanent and the project will be effectively dead.
The Court’s opinion contains harsh language concerning the County’s defense against the Foley lawsuit:
“That the defendants persisted in their support of [inaccurate] . . . maps until after several proceedings, in and out of Court, reflects carelessness, if not bad faith. Private citizens who must expend large amounts of time and money and the judicial system should not be expected to forever indulge conduct which reveals nothing short of inattention to and misapplication of law, a wink at the requirements of the local critical area plan and demonstrated unwillingness or inability to employ the technical skills necessary to provide proper maps.” (Memorandum, page 20)
The Foley lawsuit and other litigation against Four Seasons have been supported by the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, a citizens’ group working since the 1970’s to promote stewardship of the County’s natural resources.