[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6496670,"mediaKeyId","5587759-f1de2623a599af7d989b81325d49d7d3","parentId",5587759,"title","Planning commission accepts Community Facilities chapter; housing chapter sees major revisions, extended review","audioSeconds",4483,"startMs",1491000,"endMs",5974000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5587759-f1de2623a599af7d989b81325d49d7d3&start=1491&end=5974","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5587759-f1de2623a599af7d989b81325d49d7d3/thumbnail_1491000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6496670/Caroline-County/Maryland/Planning-commission-accepts-Community-Facilities-chapter-housing-chapter-sees-major-revisions-extended-review","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6496670-9eecdb6e37bbea3d3cc21c47c1136299/orig.mp4?Expires=1770700715&Signature=oUPPzFLvbnEap1wyvcxjMZntmxxCWB-Ojh-OgG0u0gepm7LFNFShcZVSp2IZDTKop~V8bO29DSNWvcnEU66uzb~13cgc2n1iQamqpgXvJkh5H98bXgOamG6W6BuyQtNdndSqFec0IYvGAQuMPjHKtuyjgj-k~L7cQjbuJXU4~VFwUX4ISjUegqpWIkd7La80JF0GLCgmS67Ais674KIMAouJfOp~VvJOnDacFPXSSaxfxNxKrQ5Fwwl~gFI9do2SOqutNGtGCdNs7mwf5MQQ1WHxHVMHT8OgIJn-x3NNFDYDuoH5fpt-4HqOlWtcp3uug0jpk1BzhK8DpzytDleL5g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Caroline","date","2025-08-13T00:00:00Z","article","The Caroline County Planning Commission voted to accept the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan’s Community Facilities chapter and held an extensive discussion on the draft Housing chapter, with commissioners and staff emphasizing sewer feasibility, septic regulation conflicts and tools to expand housing options.

Why it matters: The Comprehensive Plan guides county land-use decisions and implementation. Changes to the Community Facilities and Housing chapters can affect where the county encourages growth, how it addresses failing septic systems and what housing types the county will permit or promote.

Community Facilities: Staff reported the Board of Education’s Aug. 5 action selecting a north-side site for the new Lockerman Middle School (approximately 15.50 acres), and the Community Facilities chapter was updated to reflect the school decision, corrected building dates and incorporate funding schedules tied to a July 2024 memorandum of understanding for road improvements. Commissioners voted to accept the chapter’s final draft for inclusion in the broader Comprehensive Plan update; the draft will be updated again before formal adoption if substantive new items arise before the final package.

Housing chapter discussion: Planning staff presented a heavily revised Housing chapter that shifts priorities toward identifying land and infrastructure in designated Priority Funding Areas (PFAs) and village centers, streamlining permitting, and resolving conflicts between state septic regulations and local housing goals. Staff recommended a feasibility study to consider creating a county water and sewer department or contracting such services, prioritized modernization of public sewer infrastructure, and proposed allowing a broader mix of housing types — including accessory dwelling units (ADUs), duplexes and restricted allowances for single-wide and double-wide manufactured homes outside mobile-home parks — subject to objective standards.

Key technical and policy points discussed:
- Zoning and septic tiers: Commissioners and staff discussed Maryland’s tiered septic system rules and the limits they create for denser development outside towns. The commission agreed the county should review septic-tier designations in proximity to towns and rural villages to enable appropriate infill or targeted sewer expansions.
- Public wastewater capacity and regional partnerships: Staff noted that most regional wastewater facilities are owned and run by municipalities (for example, Greensboro’s treatment plant serving areas outside its municipal boundary). Any expansion into county areas would require coordination with towns and could require annexation, service agreements or other compromises.
- Protecting existing housing stock: Staff and several commissioners emphasized that one purpose of considering water/sewer expansion is to prevent abandonment when septic systems fail, not only to enable new development.
- Funding and governance options: Staff suggested forming public-private partnerships (PPPs) or a county-level housing-focused task force and raised the possibility of forming a joint municipal–county housing authority to pursue grant funding.

Outcomes and next steps: The commission accepted the Community Facilities chapter final draft for inclusion in the comprehensive-plan update and instructed staff to return with a revised Housing chapter for more review in September. Staff will refine implementation steps, align objectives and implementation language, and coordinate with towns and state agencies on septic and sewer feasibility work.

No formal regulatory changes were adopted for the Housing chapter at the meeting; the chapter remains a draft pending additional technical work and public review.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Caroline - Planning Commission","oneSentenceSummary","The commission voted to accept the final draft of the Comprehensive Plan’s Community Facilities chapter and engaged in an extended review of the draft Housing chapter, which includes new language on priority funding areas, public sewer feasibility studies and recommendations to allow more housing types.","taxTitle","Caroline County, Maryland","taxId",61674,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6496675,"Caroline County planning commission approves 2 MW Preston Community solar site plan with conditions",1188,53000,1241000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5587759-f1de2623a599af7d989b81325d49d7d3&start=53&end=1241","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5587759-f1de2623a599af7d989b81325d49d7d3/thumbnail_53000.jpg","/articles/6496675/Caroline-County/Maryland/Caroline-County-planning-commission-approves-2-MW-Preston-Community-solar-site-plan-with-conditions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6496675-e95e98456b6810209e271d5488111ad8/orig.mp4?Expires=1770700715&Signature=FmLF7Sgg1CJTY7mozzqodK-vAUo9dBpTgz4723cbVFLrZd3hGKKyggSsuUMmkLFNqMwApDEauBw1FPqRAtb2HtrUjOEB3Wu5UoreCeldH3RGeD-H9lVA98idCU6UmoDr3YokCeL7-J68SzGodBT9pBnlIM7nt-gpzrOZOnsvgAIN7FWroHQVQXSpBN9fWKSRXWm-qxv2rHrXwCR6AXhWAWebwtAEl3NRz8H3-9PGzZJeff4z33KwzvekoVHo3hMvK-UNjU-AAdzErFei5CsBufALeHVW5JwLr6WF3y3SwMJy5uik8-AGxq2bgonRVJxrhGacHIljr0YQkLDUhbJSIw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Caroline County Planning Commission voted to approve the final site plan for the Preston Community Solar Project, a 2-megawatt alternating-current community solar array sited on roughly 12.45 acres of an 85.35-acre parcel near the town of Preston.

Commission Chairman Jeff Jackson moved that the commission approve the final site plan “with the conditions, as stated by the BZA, which is hours of operation and that they complete their State Highway requirements,” and the motion passed with no recorded opposition.

Why it matters: The project will participate in Maryland’s permanent community solar program and feed into the local distribution system, allowing local customers to subscribe and receive bill discounts. The approval advances a renewable-energy project that developers say will have minimal traffic and no need for public water or sewer services.

What the commission heard and required: Planning staff told the commission the Board of Zoning Appeals had earlier approved the project’s special-use exception and attached conditions requiring that the final site plan package include the BZA materials. Staff noted three outstanding items that typically must be provided after Planning Commission approval but before permits are issued: a landscape-maintenance agreement, financial security for the landscape-cost estimate, and financial security for the decommissioning plan.

Ted Hastings, senior associate with Becker Morgan Group, summarized project engineering and permitting for the applicant and described the facility as “a 2 megawatt AC in size,” sited well back from the road. He said the array will be set on driven posts (no concrete foundations), will be buffered with landscaping, and that fencing with mesh will be installed while plantings mature.

State Highway Administration comments remain outstanding. Staff and the applicant said the project team will resubmit revised entrance/roadway materials to the State Highway Administration; the commission made entrance/State Highway approval a condition of permitting. The BZA’s operating-hour condition—intended to limit construction noise—was restated: stake-driving and related work is to occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with general construction hours aligning roughly to 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday–Friday and more limited hours on Saturdays.

Decommissioning and financial assurances: The applicant described its decommissioning plan as based on vendor quotes and industry catalogs and said it had sought multiple vendor price points to estimate current costs. Planning staff retained as outstanding the requirement that financial security for decommissioning be provided before permits are issued.

Utility interconnection and customer participation: The applicant said the project will interconnect to the existing three-phase distribution line on the adjacent road through a short pole connection and utility-owned gear; Delmarva Power had completed interconnection studies and provided an interconnection agreement, the applicant said. The project will be offered to local customers through Maryland’s community solar program; the applicant reported a program rule that up to 40% of subscribers may be lower- or moderate-income customers, if needed.

The vote and next steps: The commission approved the final site plan with the conditions described above and instructed staff to track the remaining items. The applicant must provide required financial securities and a landscape-maintenance agreement and must obtain State Highway Administration entrance approval before the county will issue building permits.","The Planning Commission granted final site plan approval to the Preston Community Solar Project, a 2-megawatt, roughly 12.45-acre array on an 85-acre parcel near Preston, contingent on state highway entrance approval, specified hours of construction activity and several outstanding financial/security documents.","actionData","errors"]

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Planning commission accepts Community Facilities chapter; housing chapter sees major revisions, extended review

Caroline County planning commission approves 2 MW Preston Community solar site plan with conditions