Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan DRAFT JUNE 2011 Michener’s Chesapeake Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan DRAFT JUNE 2011 Prepared for Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Dorchester, and Caroline Counties in Maryland Prepared by Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, P.C. in association with Shelley Mastran National Trust for Historic Preservation John Milner Associates, Inc. Daniel Consultants, Inc. with the assistance of Michener’s Chesapeake Scenic Byway Advisory Committee Acknowledgements The Michener’s Chesapeake Scenic Byway Advisory Committee included the following individuals that attended at least two of the meetings or otherwise made additional contributions to the development of the corridor management plan. Suzanne Baird, Manager, Blackwater NWR Cindy Miller, Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester; Rodney Banks, Planning & Zoning, Dorchester County Museum & Attractions Coalition Elizabeth Beckley, Eastern Shore Field Director, Preservation Don, Mulrine, Administrator, Town of Denton Maryland Frank Newton, Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester Jeanne Bernard, Vice President, Nanticoke Historic Preservation Jackie, Noller, Vice President, Choptank River Alliance Lighthouse Society Judy Bixler, , Town of Oxford Rochelle Outten , SHA District 1 RussellBrinsfield, Mayor, Town of Vienna David Owens, HCHA Mary Calloway, Econ. Dev. Dept, City of Cambridge Amy Owsley, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Linda Cashman, Heart of Chesapeake County Heritage Area, Jay, Parker , Interim Executive Director, Lower Dorchester Tourism* Eastern Shore Heritage Council, Inc. Frank Cavanaugh, President, Talbot County Village Center Ray, Patera, , Blackwater NWR Board Mike Richards, Tilghman Waterman’s Museum Jay, Corvan, , Richardson Maritime Museum Anne Roane, City Planner, City of Cambridge Betsy, Coulbourne, Planner, Caroline County Planning Marci Ross, Manager, Destination Resources Jane Devlin, James B. Richardson Foundation, Inc. Development, MD Dept of Business & Debbi Dodson, Director, Talbot County Office of Tourism* Economic Development, Div of Tourism, Film Jean Fabi, Queen Anne’s County Economic Development, & the Arts* Agriculture and Tourism* Lisa Silvestri, Community Projects Manager, Amanda Fenstermaker, Director, Dorchester Tourism* Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Katheleen, Freeman, Director, Caroline County Planning Martin, Sokolich, Long Term Planner, Talbot Jerry Freibaum, Tilghman Village Planning Committee County Department of Planning and Zoning* Bob Friday, President, Caroline County Chamber/Commerce Joyce Spratt, Mayor, Hurlock Joe, Glime, Vice President, Federalsburg Historic Society Robert, Stanley, Tree Keepers Larry Gredlein, SHA District 2 Tracy Staples, Black Walnut Point Inn Steven Hack, Chairman, Talbot County Historic Preservation J.O.K Walsh, Director, Caroline County Economic Commission Development Commission Tom Hamilton, Town Planner, Town of Easton Planning & John Wilson, Associated Director, Stewardship, Zoning Maryland Department of Natural Resources* Irma Harper, Historian, Federalsburg Historic Society George Wright, Choptank River Lighthouse Bill Jarmon, , Dorchester County Historical Society Terry Wright, SHA District 2 Bart Johnson, President, Federalsburg Historic Society Bob Zuber, Black Walnut Point Inn Jennifer Jones, Tourism Development Manager, Maryland Office of Tourism Development Bill Kastning, Director, Town of Denton Planning Hall Kellogg, Tilghman Waterman’s Museum Laura Layton, Layton’s Vineyard Pete Lesher, Curator, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Nelson Lewis, SHA District 2 Christina Lippincott, , Carolina County Tourism Bob Lorenz, Director, Preston Planning Lisa Ludwig, Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council, Inc. Kathy Mackel, Director, Carolina County Office of Tourism* Mike Mariner, SHA District 1 Terry Maxwell, Scenic Byway Coordinator, Maryland State Highway Administration* Happy Mayer, Administrator, Main St. Program and Economic Development, Town of Federalsburg Ray Mayfield , Tilghman Village Council Jay Meredith, Bucktown Village Foundation Page i TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Planning Context and Process 3 Vision and Goals for the Byway 4 Chapter 2: Byway Qualities 7 Corridor Definition 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 Intrinsic Qualities 12 Chapter 3: The Byway Experience 35 Finding and Following the Byway 35 Getting to the Byway 37 Existing Visitor Facilities and Services 42 Existing Roadway Conditions 49 Chapter 4: Managing the Byway 57 GOAL 1: Preserving and Conserving the Byway’s Intrinsic Qualities 58 Programs for Land Conservation and Historic Preservation 65 GOAL 2: Enhancing the Byway 74 GOAL 3: Marketing the Region’s Maritime, Agricultural and Natural Heritage 84 GOAL 4: Interpreting the Byway 92 GOAL 5: Transportation 112 hesapeake 128 Chapter 5: Implementation 131 Byway Management Needs 131 Appenidices: 1. Inventory Maps 2. Summary of Relevant Planning Policies 3. Concept Plans for Priority Areas 4. Wayfinding Policies (SHA/OOTS) 5. Turn by Turn Directions 6. ImplementationTable Page ii June 2011 DRAFT Michener’s Chesapeake Scenic Byway Management Plan Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway Management Plan June 2011 DRAFT Page 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is to describe the context in which the plan was developed and to explain how community involvement played a critical role in developing the plan’s vision and goals. Michener’s Chesapeake Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway highlights the picturesque waterways, historic waterfront and inland villages, agricultural operations and wide natural expanses found along a series of scenic roads and historic travel routes in Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline counties of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As the Mid-Shore section of the Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway network, it links such small towns as Figure 1-1 View from Centreville, Easton, St. Michaels, Tilghman Island, Oxford, Granary, Wye Island Denton, Federalsburg, Cambridge, East New Market, Secretary and Vienna. Visitors learn about and enjoy the rich maritime history, agricultural legacy and natural resources of the region. From birding to bicycling, to boating – Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway is the best way to explore it all in the Mid-Shore. Purpose of the Plan Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline and Dorchester counties are fortunate to have been awarded a grant to develop a Figure 1-2 View from Corridor Management Plan (CMP) for the Mid-Shore section Sandaway in Oxford of the Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway network (see page 2 sidebar and map: “Byway Context: The Bay Side of the Delmarva Peninsula”). The purpose of the CMP is to help the four counties and their agency partners (Maryland Office of Tourism Development, Maryland State Highway Administration, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Department of Planning and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority) to protect and promote the rich natural and cultural resources found throughout the Byway corridor and to implement strategies for sustainable tourism development based on that heritage. Implementation of the plan will help to highlight and interpret Figure 1-3 Marshyhope the region’s rich history and accentuate its rural character, Creek, Federalsburg maritime culture, and natural resources. Some examples might include strategies for land and resource conservation, development and marketing of theme-based itineraries, and roadside enhancements to make it easier to find and follow the Byway. Chapter 1: Introduction Page 2 June 2011 DRAFT Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway Management Plan BYWAY CONTEXT: THE BAY SIDE OF THE DELMARVA PENINSULA Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway is part of a larger network of scenic byways and trails within the Delmarva Peninsula (the geographic landform that includes Delaware and the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, with the Chesapeake Bay to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east). Approximately two-thirds of the Delmarva Peninsula almost all of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, about half of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and western and southern portions Tuckahoe River of Delaware drains into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. When referring to the watersheds of the Delmarva Peninsula for the purpose of this CMP, the portion of the Peninsula that drains into the Chesapeake Bay will be referred to as the Bay Side, and the portion that drains to all other watersheds Nanticoke River to the east will be referred to as the Atlantic Side. The four Chesapeake Bay sub-watersheds of Maryland’s Eastern Shore include the Upper Bay, Choptank, Nanticoke, and Choptank River Lower Bay. In the context of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the nationally designated Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway stretches from Chesapeake City to Kent Island, with an extension to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway, the primary subject of this plan, meets the nationally designated section at MD 213. To the south Michener’s Chesapeake connects with the Blue Crab Scenic Byway at US 50 in Mardela Springs. In the context of Maryland’s Eastern Shore (referred to as the Eastern Shore from here forth), the Chesapeake Country NSB is associated with the Upper Shore, Michener’s Chesapeake Country Scenic Byway is associated with the Mid-shore and the Blue Crab Byway’s is associated with the Lower Shore. An important goal of this byway planning effort is to consolidate the three byway’s associated with the Bay Side into one primary byway spine that connects the Upper Shore,