WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 - Debate Over Proposed Dorchester County Development

Debate Over Proposed Dorchester County Development

01/26/2006 10:50 PM EST

CAMBRIDGE-  Plans are underway for a massive housing development in Cambridge that includes 3,200 homes and a golf course built on more than 1,000 acres of farmland.  The development would be constructed along the Little Blackwater River, which pours into the Chesapeake Bay.

The proposed development has some in Dorchester County up in arms.  The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and some county residents have started a petition against the project.

Will Baker, of the Chesapeake Bay foundation, fears the new development will pollute the local waterways.

"Clean water is a right, not a luxury," Baker said. "This development will have a vast impact on clean water flowing into the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and ultimately the bay."

Cambridge Mayor Cleveland R. Rippons said the project will benefit his city.

"There is certainly a financial aspect," he said. "It will bring in an excess of 100 permanent jobs on-site."

Rippons also said his repeated offers to meet with the petitioners have been ignored.

The project is not a done deal. Dorchester County officials still have to vote on a final plan next month.