Union Bridge seeks to shrink growth boundary as wastewater limits constrain development

Union Bridge representatives told the Carroll County Planning Commission on Feb. 5 that a proposed amendment to the town's 2008 comprehensive plan would reconfigure — effectively shrink — the municipal growth-area boundary because the town lacks wastewater treatment capacity to support the earlier, larger growth expectations. Ned Huff, representing the town, said the amendment reflects updated population and infrastructure realities and would limit the growth area until the town secures adequate treatment capacity.

The amendment, described by Huff as the town's "Fourth Amendment" to its 2008 plan, would move some lands out of the municipal growth area and reclassify a small number of parcels. Huff said the most significant change is the growth-area reconfiguration, prompted by the town's inability, at present, to expand wastewater treatment. "If you're gonna have a town that needs to get its treatment plan expanded,…