1,000 may see zoning changes

Land rules being updated

Friday, May 29, 2009

About 1,000 notifications have been sent from the St. Mary's County Department of Land Use and Growth Management alerting owners a change could be pending in their land's zoning.

About 87 percent of St. Mary's is designated as the rural preservation district, an area of low-density housing, farms and forests. The proposed changes in the plan could expand this district, where large residential subdivisions are restricted, to include 88 percent the county, said Derick Berlage, the new director of the land use and growth management department.

The state requires counties to update their land-use plans every six years, but it is more than just a mandated exercise, said senior planner Jeff Jackman. "We should really look at these things" on a regular basis.

The three important initiatives in the update are to renew the focus on agriculture, put a new focus on water quality and supply and on growth areas. "Lexington Park is still our economic engine," Berlage said, because of the presence of Patuxent River Naval Air Station. But there should be emphasis on community design. "Instead of endless asphalt we'd like to see more of that broken up with green," he said.

"It's not a rewriting or a remake of the comprehensive plan," Berlage said. "It is a fine tuning. We are recommending the planning commission, the county commissioners confirm the plan that we have. It is an excellent plan."

The new land that is being recommended to go into the rural preservation district are constrained from development because they are environmentally sensitive, having steep slopes or wetlands, he said.

Since Sept. 4, 2008, the county's new annual growth policy has tracked 315 new homes. The plan's policy was to direct 70 percent of new growth into designated development areas, and the remaining 30 percent into the rural preservation district. Thus far, 78 percent of the new homes have gone into growth areas.

The policy would allow up to 794 new homes in its first year — a growth rate of 1.9 percent. The growth rate is far below that pace because of the sputtering housing market.

The county's two development districts are the Leonardtown and Lexington Park areas. The county's town centers are Charlotte Hall, Mechanicsville, New Market, Hollywood and Piney Point.

The county's village centers are Chaptico, Loveville, Clements, Callaway, Valley Lee, St. Inigoes and Ridge.

However, the updated plan recommends some changes to those designations. New Market would be changed to a village center and Loveville, Clements and Valley Lee would become rural service areas instead.

It would allow for continued development in those areas, but would not allow infill in-between. "This is just maintaining the status quo," Jackman said.

People will still be able to use their lands as zoned. "This is not going to trigger any non-conforming uses," he said.

The rezoning would come after the entire comprehensive plan is approved by the planning commission and county commissioners. Both groups will take public comment.

While the sizes of the Leonardtown Development District and the Mechanicsville and Hollywood town centers are proposed to decrease, there are some additions suggested to some areas.

The Fifth District Park, Dent Elementary School and the county-owned lot at the corner of New Market Road and Route 5 would be added to Charlotte Hall. There is a small addition proposed to the southern end of the Hollywood Town Center and the campus of Leonardtown middle and high schools, and the county fairgrounds across the street would be added to the Leonardtown Development District. Other lands around Cedar Lane would be removed.

jbabcock@somdnews.com