ABOUT
Site Developers & Project Team
Ernie Sota of Green Development and Rebecca Flora of ReMake Group partnered to combine their years of construction, design, development and community planning experience to create Carter Farm Agrihood. Carter Farm will serve as a national model for food centric, sustainable development. Their portfolio of past projects demonstrates passion, commitment and capacity for successfully undertaking a project of this scale and unique opportunity. Well-known for their ability to advance market “firsts”, Carter Farm Agrihood is envisioned to set a new standard for sustainable development.
Ernie Sota is the owner of Green Development, a sister organization of Sota Construction. Ernie is the owner of both companies with more than 40 years of sustainably focused development and construction experience. He has developed or built more than 2,000 residential units that include completion of LEED Platinum, Passive HAUS, Energy Star and DOE Zero Energy certified projects.
Rebecca Flora led ReMAKE group, a certified women-owned business enterprise (WBE) with more than 30 years of executive and project management experience. She is also a certified planner specializing in sustainable community development practices. She previously served as the project executive for Hazelwood Green, a 178-acre, mixed-use waterfront redevelopment in Pittsburgh, PA. ReMAKE also prepared the LEED for Neighborhood Development platinum-certified master plan and served as sustainability expert. Rebecca lives just up the road in Chestertown, MD.
Rebecca was a co-founder of Carter Farm Agrihood providing early visionary and technical sustainability and planning expertise during the predevelopment stage. Rebecca ended her affiliation with the project in January 2023, due to other professional commitments.
Project Team
Green Development and ReMake assembled a team of professionals uniquely qualified for this conservation development approach. The team members include Eastern Shore experts along with nationally recognized professionals from Pittsburgh, PA – Green Development’s home base.
Common Ground
Civil engineering and green infrastructure
Dower House Architecture
Phase IB Home Design
Lane Engineering
Environmental & Civil Engineering
LaQuatra Bonci Associates
Landscape Architecture & Site Design
MDSW – Ryan Showalter
Legal & Policy
Sustainability – Project Management – Public Policy & Planning
Rob Etgen
Agriculture and Community Engagement
Project Background & Status
The Carter Farm site is the last remaining tract of the 400 acres granted by Lord Baltimore to William Hensley to form Chesterfield Manor and in 1782 a portion was subsequently granted for the formation of Centre Ville for the courthouse, jail and 37 lots. Early Native American settlements would have predated the creation of Chesterfield Manor which add to the long history of this site and region. Fast forward to 1949, Judge Clayton Cann Carter took over ownership of Chesterfield and it remained in the Carter family until his passing in 2011. It was subsequently sold in 2014 to a development team that advanced the rezoning of the site to a Traditional Neighborhood Development zone (TND), yet their development plans did not materialize. Community meetings were held in 2016 to further development interest in this strategically located, smart growth site. However, development interest did not materialize and the site remained underutilized. ReMake and Green Development (Carter Farm development team) became aware of the site in 2019, and a sales agreement with the current land owner was signed in December of 2020. The Carter Farm development team has been working with Town officials since that time to develop the current site plan and procure public approvals.
The Carter Farm Agrihood, as envisioned, required zoning and subdivision amendments to support the innovative sustainable and Agrihood development approach. These Town Ordinance amendments were approved in early 2022 by Town Council following a positive recommendation from Planning Commission in late-2021. Since that time the developer has been working with the Town to make revisions to the site plan that were required to advance zoning, growth allocation and other public approvals unique to the site due to its location in a Chesapeake Bay Critical Area and its TND and PUD zoning requirements. Once public approvals are achieved, construction will begin and take about 12-18 months for the first phase of housing to be completed. To find out more about the public approval process, as well as look for past presentation materials and upcoming meetings, follow the RESOURCES link below.
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