Calvert County planning staff weigh four options for Owings Town Center after public survey

Calvert County planning staff presented community survey results and four zoning options for the Owings Town Center at a public meeting, and discussed potential impacts to existing businesses and infrastructure. No formal zoning change was made at the meeting.

Tay, planning staff with the Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning, told attendees that the department ran an online survey about the Owings Town Center from July 23 through August 25 and received 214 completed responses. “The Department of Planning and Zoning made an online survey available to the public from July 23 through August 25,” Tay said. Staff also noted that postcards were mailed about three weeks before the survey opened but that some residents did not receive them.

The survey results and presentation showed participants’ profiles and priorities: about 6% of respondents did not live in Owings; 9% had lived there fewer than five years, 29% between five and 19 years, 31% between 20 and 29 years, and 26% 30 years or more. Age-group responses were concentrated among older residents: about 43% of respondents were 60 or older. When asked whether the area should remain a town center or be redesignated a Rural Commercial District (RCD), 39% favored keeping it a town center and 61% favored an RCD.

Staff outlined four options for the town center boundary and zoning: keep the existing town center designation; distinguish the town center as a minor versus a major town center; convert the area to a Rural Commercial District; or create a new small-town designation (for example, a community mixed-use or village district). Staff said the choice affects permitted uses, building scale, and infrastructure requirements such as public water and wastewater versus well and septic.

Tamara, planning staff who led the mapping portion of the presentation, described the existing and proposed boundaries and land uses. She said the existing town-center boundary contains 47 parcels totaling about 65 acres; within that boundary staff counted 16 commercial parcels (about 35%), 10 mixed commercial-residential parcels (22%), 20 residential parcels (43%), and one agricultural parcel (2%). In a proposed new boundary shown during the presentation, staff reported nine parcels totaling about 86 acres, of which eight parcels (about 89%) were residential and one parcel (11%) agricultural.

Staff explained differences between major and minor town centers: major centers could allow multistory nonresidential uses, higher-density housing and public sewer and water; minor town centers would emphasize one-story, neighborhood-scale nonresidential uses and were more likely to rely on well and septic. Staff noted that public sentiment in the meeting leaned toward preserving well-and-septic infrastructure rather than extending centralized sewer and water systems.

A recurring concern from survey respondents and meeting comments was traffic and safety on MD 260 and MD 24, limited walkability, loss of rural character, and environmental limits such as wetlands and flooding. Respondents cited the post office, a local inn, and a veterinarian clinic among the town center’s primary draws and said many residents rely on nearby Dunkirk and Prince Frederick for services not available in Owings.

Scott Montgomery, an Owings resident who asked a follow-up question, pressed staff on which current businesses would become nonconforming if the area were rezoned to an RCD. Tay and Tamara said the slide handout and a longer table list uses that are permitted only in the town center and would become nonconforming under an RCD; they listed examples on the slide such as farm stands, hotels/motels, boat dealerships, home-improvement stores and certain residential types. Tamara said staff did not have a complete inventory of current businesses on hand at the microphone but offered to provide an inventory on request.

Staff also described outreach and next steps: they will post the presentation materials and a detailed handout on the county’s master plan update website (materials will be posted the day after the meeting), continue follow-up email outreach to sign-in attendees, and consider using tax-bill mailing addresses in coordination with the Department of Finance and Budget for future mailings if budget and staffing permit. The county mobile app, press releases, social media and the planning newsletter were also cited as notification channels. Tay said staff would solicit suggestions for improved outreach from those who provided contact information.

No formal vote or direction to change the zoning was recorded during the presentation. Staff said the master plan update process will continue with additional meetings, a Planning Commission review, and later consideration by the Board of County Commissioners.

Ending: Documents from the presentation will be posted to Calvert County’s master plan update webpage; staff invited residents to leave contact information for follow-up and to request a business inventory if they want to see which uses in Owings would be classified as nonconforming under an RCD.