Theater Review: Curtain Falls on Cecil County Council Impasse; Moore to Pick Successor, Sends ‘Tier’ Map to State

News Analysis It was almost like watching the Elkton version of “Sunset Boulevard” — the classic movie in which forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond pathetically declares, “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up”– when the new Cecil County Council held its last formal session of the year Tuesday. Deadlocked again, the Council abdicated its role in filling a vacant District 2 seat and as a result, new County Executive Tari Moore will get to pick her own successor on the Council. Moore also stepped into the breech of a previous deadlock, when she was still a member of the old board of County Commissioners, over selection of a land preservation map mandated by the state. So she took action administratively to send to Annapolis a less-restrictive “tier” map (Map 10) that only includes lands already in preservation, such as parkland or farms that owners have voluntarily enrolled in farmland protection programs. If the county had not submitted its own map by 12/31/12, the state could have imposed a much more restrictive map on county land. “This map protects the property rights of our landowners, as well as the property rights of those with development currently going through the approval [...]