Bay Watch

By R.E. Blake Evans One of the most contentious battles over waterfront protection is expected this autumn in Maryland. Governor Parris Glendening is pushing for new restrictions on new development along Maryland’s coastal bays, including 10-foot buffer zones from shorelines. “[The shorelines] are succumbing to construction that is destroying the very thing that attracts people to the shores,” he says. The proposal, opposed by Republicans and other conservatives, would be similar to a 1984 Critical Areas Act that was passed to protect the Chesapeake Bay.