I am a practicing attorney with 25 years of experience in Annapolis specializing in family law. My law firm of four women is located on Forest Drive across from Crystal Spring. Like other Forest Drive businesses, I can verify how utterly horrible the existing traffic situation is — we already have instances of clients and potential clients not choosing to come here due to the congestion.

Adding another 1,000 residents with nearly 500 housing units, a shopping center, hotel, and a large traffic-generating food store will further exacerbate a dangerous situation. I really don’t know what is going to happen to our business here if the traffic increases from Crystal Spring and other developments such as Parkside Preserve.

As a city resident for almost 40 years, I must take issue with the letter from Walter Vasquez (The Capital, Jan. 5), who would dismiss all such concerns of citizens like me because supposedly want Annapolis to adopt a no-growth strategy and put a fence around the community. He says his nascent group is for responsible development.

There is nothing responsible about the city annexing large, forested acreage from the county and then allowing massive developments in which forest is destroyed, creeks polluted, traffic increased and schools overcrowded. There are many areas of Annapolis needing redevelopment in a responsible way, including the now vacant large Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund site closer to Aris T. Allen Boulevard.

Developments such as Crystal Spring do not pay for themselves and my property tax as a city resident proves that: It is 30 percent higher than if I lived in the county.

PAULA J. PETERS, ANNAPOLIS

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