On Friday, December 5th, the Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court decisively ruled in favor of environmental organizations in a 30-year dispute involving the Chesterhaven Beach development proposal on Kent Island. The 101-acre property, which had been proposed for the development of dozens of new houses in an area covered by Maryland’s Critical Area law, includes an ecologically significant mix of forests, wetlands, and fields overlooking the Chester River. Among other findings, the Court agreed that the County Commissioners illegally adopted the rezoning request two years after the adoption of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, where such designations are required to be identified.