Your editorial (The Capital, June 21) very succinctly laid out what will certainly be the major concern in next year’s city election campaign: the wisdom, desirability of or opposition to further development in and adjacent to Annapolis; with its added housing, businesses, employment, traffic, school crowding, pollution and removal of natural surroundings.

You cited the developers’ position of the right of property owners to maximize return on their investment; and that of others that the resulting negative factors should be a restraint.

I must agree with the latter: One should be free to do whatever one chooses with one’s property — short of the point where it damages someone else. That’s why we have zoning laws, environmental laws, restrictive covenants, school enrollment limitations and annexation resolutions — with that exact purpose.

Besides it being plain common sense.

Let’s hope that point gets forcefully made next year.

VAN K. NIELD, ANNAPOLIS

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