(Feb. 13, 2026) Improvements at Berlin\u2019s Atlantic Hotel were approved after the fact by the Historic District Commission last week following a tense discussion about the proper approval and permitting processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a Feb. 4 meeting of the Berlin HDC, the body accepted landscaping and electrical work that had already taken place on the hotel property. The unanimous vote was preceded by criticism from the town\u2019s planning department that the project did not make its way through the appropriate channels before being completed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In January, Bryan LeCompte, owner of Salisbury-based Yard Designs, approached hotel owners John and Michelle Fager with an offer to spruce up an area with high pedestrian activity at a discounted rate.<\/p>\n
The lodging\u2019s modifications included the installation of brick pavers on both sides of the sidewalk at the front entrance, installation of new landscaping, installation of a removable ground sleeve for the hotel sign, and installation of electrical.<\/p>\n
The contractor said that, to secure the lower cost, the project would need to be completed the following week because the landscaping company\u2019s workload was about to increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a rush to ensure the improvements could be made, the initiative failed to come before the HDC for approval, and permits were not secured before groundbreaking. Commission member and Atlantic Hotel general manager Laura Stearns got mixed up in the middle of what the town\u2019s planning department described as a procedural error.<\/p>\n
Michelle Fager and Stearns appeared before the commission last week to apologize for failing to follow the proper steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecently, [LeCompte] came to us and offered to beautify the front of the hotel,\u201d explained Stearns to the HDC and town staff. \u201cIt was an opportunity that is rare\u2026What we had there for years was roots that were exposed. It was a safety hazard and a liability for the hotel and probably for the townspeople that tripped on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that, in terms of shrubbery, two spiral boxwoods were placed on the hotel\u2019s front porch, and pavers matching those around town were installed for aesthetic appeal.<\/p>\n
Stearns maintained that a dangerous electrical setup was also remedied and brought back into regulatory compliance.<\/p>\n
Stearns said that once she realized the project would need proper HDC approval, she went to Berlin Planning Director Ryan Hardesty, who \u201cwas not positive about it happening.\u201d The hotel manager then called John Fager, who she said pushed for the work to proceed.<\/p>\n
Stearns went back to Hardesty, who said she should speak to Norman Bunting, the HDC chairman. Bunting maintained that he could not provide explicit permission for the initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stearns then spoke to Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall. It was decided that the HDC members could be polled via email.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween all of us, we thought that we could just ask the commissioners,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it was presented to all of them in an email. They said it was beautiful. Then, I thought we were a go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stearns added that she knew the improvements required public permission, but that the situation mirrored others in which projects could receive retroactive approval if the adjustments needed to be completed immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Stearns later received a message from Hardesty that the initiative should not proceed without the necessary steps. When Stearns reached out to the landscaping group to let them know to hold off, they were already too far into the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that, I called John Fager, and he said, \u2018We have to do it,\u2019\u201d Stearns said. \u201cIt was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stearns and Michelle Fager apologized to staff and the HDC for the errors. A letter from John Fager was also read, in which he acknowledged the mistake. Additionally, Stearns said that the hotel would obtain the proper permits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, at last week\u2019s meeting, the town\u2019s planning department made it known that they were dissatisfied with how the situation unfolded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the landscaping, it\u2019s not the new pavers going in,\u201d Hardesty said, addressing Stearns. \u201cIt looks beautiful, it really does. It\u2019s that those items don\u2019t constitute an emergency for it to have been done without approval. And if anyone knows it more, it would be you because you\u2019re on the board. That\u2019s the issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like being on the board, you set the precedent that this is the town code,\u201d the planning director continued. \u201cThis is how you have to go through the process. And then on top of that, even if, let\u2019s say you did think you got historic approval because of the email vote, there\u2019s still no permits. So, you have no permits for the town and then you have no electrical permits with the county. There are a lot of issues happening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hardesty also argued that because the commission failed to vote in a public venue, it may have violated the Maryland Open Meetings Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michelle Fager noted that Stearns was simply following her employer\u2019s directions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I could just say, [Stearns] does work for us, so it would actually be my husband who is involved directly in this project who would be the one to get approval, not [Stearns],\u201d she said. \u201cShe has to work under his direction. He told her to go ahead with it, and she was just complying with her employment with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some on the commission were displeased with how the planning department handled the incident, noting that the HDC has historically been a laid-back operation. Commission member Mary Moore said that she believes Hardesty feels the body \u201clet [her] down,\u201d and would appreciate a clarification of expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expectations are to follow your town code,\u201d Hardesty responded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many in the audience felt that the planning department was unfairly and publicly admonishing the Fagers and Stearns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attendee Cindi Krempel said the discussion seemed to have turned into an open reprimand of those involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me this is a public rebuke of them that should have been done in private,\u201d she said, addressing Hardesty. \u201cIt could have been explained in another way\u2026And just you, you want to rebuke them in public\u2026They should have come to the board, which she has already admitted\u2026You keep on repeating that and I understand why you want to drive it home, but the point is, everybody knows what the procedure should be\u2026It feels more personal than anything, to be perfectly honest\u2026It feels like you want to publicly humiliate, or make an example of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hardesty said that because approval is meant to occur transparently, the conversation had to happen publicly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to grant the public the opportunity to come and talk about each case on an agenda,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the work was done, an application had not even been filled out yet\u2026A poll vote can happen, but you have to have it publicly advertised that this is the topic we\u2019re talking about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berlin resident and We Heart Berlin founder Tony Weeg spoke at the meeting, noting his dissatisfaction with the current state of the town\u2019s planning department.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a growing sense of antagonism between the planning department and many facets of this town,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the planning department\u2026cannot understand the gravity of the Atlantic Hotel and make that work, whatever you have to do, if that doesn\u2019t translate, then I don\u2019t think you understand Berlin\u2026Whatever you had to do, I\u2019m so glad you did it, and everyone I\u2019ve talked to in town feels the same way. They all don\u2019t like the antagonism that\u2019s coming from the planning department \u2026Contractors, residents, everybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the meeting, the commission unanimously granted post-installation approval for the Atlantic Hotel project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The issue was brought up again at Monday night\u2019s Berlin Mayor and Council meeting. Tyndall addressed the situation and acknowledged that the town code is not always clear, which can create confusion as shown at the Feb. 4 HDC meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mayor said that an internal working group will be launched to ensure the proper processes for projects like site plan approval and annexation are easily understood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This team will include Town Administrator Mary Bohlen, Tyndall, Town Attorney David Gaskill, Planning Legal Counsel Emily Morris, Hardesty, Planning Commission Chair Matthew Stoehr, Bunting, Board of Zoning Appeals Chair Joe Moore, and councilmembers Jay Knerr and Jack Orris.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s been any lack of discussion when it comes to the idea of the planning department and the work that the planning department is doing, the work that is taking place with the planning commission and HDC,\u201d Tyndall said. \u201cThere is a lot of information that becomes a little misunderstood through the processes. The town code is not always super clear on how to move forward with certain things. When we try to lay out a plan \u2026 it can be difficult because it may have been different from what folks were asked in the past. We recognize that, but it doesn\u2019t change the fact that we as a municipality still have the code we need to abide by, we still have the boxes that need to be checked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor added that the group will make necessary changes to the town code and publish easy-to-follow information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Feb. 13, 2026) Improvements at Berlin\u2019s Atlantic Hotel were approved after the fact by the Historic District Commission…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[8775,8770,112,8773,8778,8779,190,8771,8772,8776,4380,8777,8774,1099,8781,8782,8783,8780],"class_list":{"0":"post-11229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-approvals","9":"tag-atlantic-hotel","10":"tag-berlin","11":"tag-commission","12":"tag-electric","13":"tag-fagers","14":"tag-germany","15":"tag-hdc","16":"tag-historic","17":"tag-landscaping","18":"tag-maryland","19":"tag-pavers","20":"tag-permits","21":"tag-planning","22":"tag-planning-department","23":"tag-procedures","24":"tag-process","25":"tag-retroactive"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}