This is part one of nine in the Paving Paradise series. To read the full article click here.

For the residents of Perryman Peninsula in Harford County, Maryland, the days are marked by the sun rising over the Chesapeake Bay to the East and settling behind the Bush River to the West. When British explorer John Smith sailed the Chesapeake in 1608 he eloquently described Perryman and other bayside peninsulas as, “Heaven and earth seemed never to have agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation.” Much of that natural beauty still remains. Bald Eagles nest along the shores of the Bush River and swaths of fertile cropland stretch across the horizon. The area's history, environment, and rich natural resources make Perryman Peninsula an idyllic Maryland community, where 19th century Victorian-style homes dot two-lane country roads and residents have pride for the land, and its history. However, that land is quickly changing. Despite the area’s immense natural value, the peninsula is being redeveloped for distribution centers to serve the region's ever-growing demand for online shopping and rapid delivery services.

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For e-commerce companies and large retailers like Amazon, moving goods from the factory floor to a customer’s front porch within days — or even hours — requires an intricate delivery system often utilizing ships, ports, trains, trucks, and distribution centers. Distribution centers are dedicated to storing, sorting, and shipping goods, often just before they reach the last mile and consumers. Close proximity to both ports and consumers necessitates siting distribution centers along transportation corridors, like near Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Philadelphia and Northwest to Hagerstown, Pennsylvania, on Interstate 81. Distribution centers located in this area can reach two-thirds of the US population within a 24-hour truck drive. These facilities, colloquially called mega warehouses, live up to their name, often with over one million square feet of warehouse space on hundreds of acres of land. The growth of the e-commerce industry, sparked by changes in consumer habits and the COVID-19 pandemic, has spurred rapid development of mega warehouses, often at the expense of surrounding communities.

Maryland Mega Warehouse Growth

States like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland are hotspots for distribution centers. According to tax parcel records, Maryland, in particular, has seen a 260% increase in mega warehouse space since 2000, rising from 19.7 to over 51 million square feet in 2021. Many distribution centers are built in existing industrial parks like Amazon’s complex in Sparrows Point, near the Port of Baltimore. However, dwindling industrial space suitable for large distribution centers have pushed developers towards farming and residential communities with expansive tracts of undeveloped or lightly developed land. For some communities, the social and environmental costs are substantial. They call into question the promises of economic gains and the supposed role of local and state governments to ensure sustainable development. Nowhere is this more evident than Perryman Peninsula. Over a dozen distribution centers have been built there in the last 20 years, dramatically degrading the landscape, threatening resident’s health, and damaging the environment in the process.

To see the next section in the Paving Paradise series, For Sale By Owner, click here.