Sugarloaf Mountain owner reiterates that it will close mountain if council passes plan

Oct. 12—Stronghold, the nonprofit organization that owns Sugarloaf Mountain, reiterated on Tuesday that it will close the mountain to the public if the Frederick County Council doesn't amend the county's plan to preserve the mountain and its surrounding area.

The council is scheduled to vote whether to approve the Sugarloaf Treasured Landscape Management Plan on Oct. 18.

"If the Sugarloaf plan as presented for public hearing on Oct. 11 passes, Stronghold will cease allowing general public access to Sugarloaf Mountain, a privately owned property, to allow Stronghold to evaluate the effects of the plan on its operations," attorney Noel Manalo, representing Stronghold, said during Tuesday's council meeting.

But, Manalo said, "if modifications are made to the plan prior to final passage, Stronghold will reevaluate its decision."

Tuesday was not the first time Stronghold threatened to close public access to Sugarloaf Mountain. Stronghold's board of trustees members requested in August that the county remove the organization's land from an overlay zoning district in the plan that is meant to restrict development.

The overlay includes standards for development in the plan area and prohibits certain uses, including carnivals, shooting ranges and landfills. It would, however, allow for rodeos and outdoor sports recreation facilities.

The overlay does not apply to residential buildings or structures used for agricultural activities.

During a meeting on Oct. 3, County Council members voted against two amendments that would have removed some or all of Stronghold's land from the overlay.

County Councilman Phil Dacey, R, proposed that the council exempt Stronghold's 3,400 acres from the overlay, which covers the entire 20,000-acre plan area. County Councilman Steve McKay, R, introduced an amendment to strike 45 acres of Stronghold's land from the overlay district.

The council voted 6-1 against Dacey's amendment and 4-3 against McKay's.

Manalo, a lawyer with McNees Wallace and Nurick in Frederick, said Tuesday that Stronghold was "disappointed" the council didn't approve Dacey's amendment, which "would have saved the mountain from being unnecessarily restricted."

The overlay, though, wouldn't change the uses allowed on Stronghold's land, said Tim Goodfellow, the lead county planner for the Sugarloaf plan.

County Councilman Kai Hagen, D — who has been the council member most outspoken in favor of the plan — wrote in an email to the News-Post during the meeting: "There is nothing in the plan that prevents Stronghold from doing everything they do now."

Manalo said the county executive's office and the Planning Commission did not consider Stronghold's views before forwarding the Sugarloaf plan to the County Council in July.

County officials, however, said that Stronghold has been involved in the Sugarloaf plan since the earliest drafting stages for the plan in 2019.

"They've been engaged since the beginning," County Executive Jan Gardner, D, said in a phone interview with the News-Post. "It hasn't always been clear to us exactly what they want."

Gardner, who met twice with representatives from Stronghold, said, "Sometimes they raised questions or concerns about things that aren't actually in the plan."

Goodfellow said that Stronghold had three people on the 16-member Sugarloaf Stakeholders' Advisory Group that met seven times between February 2020 and July 2021 to provide input and perspective to the county about the Sugarloaf area. Goodfellow said he first met with representatives from Stronghold in the fall of 2019.

In drafting the Sugarloaf plan, the county established a "private park" use classification in the county's code specifically for Stronghold, Goodfellow said.

Stronghold would have to request to add resources and facilities to the mountain if the council passes the Sugarloaf plan.

Property owners with land designated as a "private park" under the county's code can add a visitors' center, gift shop, walk-up concession stand, pavilion or open structure for gathering but only with site development plan approval from the county.

Goodfellow said the county added these uses to the "private park" classification because Stronghold's representatives had expressed interest in adding them to their land.

Stronghold representatives have said they worry the "private park" classification would no longer exempt the organization, under a Maryland state statute, from liability for injuries to visitors to the mountain.

Private parks can include natural or paved trails, scenic viewing areas, parking and areas for tent camping, among other features, bill documents state.

Private parks cannot have a recreational vehicle campground, golf course, driving range, swimming pool, fairgrounds, zoo, hotel, motel or lodge, according to bill documents.