Commissioners approve Stewart’s Grant PUD changes after developer offers larger buffer and phased build schedule

The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County approved ordinance text 240030 on July 15, 2025, to amend the Stewart’s Grant planned unit development, including a reduction in maximum dwelling units and a new phasing schedule.

The ordinance lowers the maximum authorized dwelling units from 1,122 to 1,084, establishes an average build-out pace of 108 units per year once construction commences, and “reserve[s] those school seats to ensure adequate capacity will exist for the Stewart’s Grant for the duration of the build out,” Deputy County Attorney John Sterling Hauser said.

Why it matters: commissioners pressed the developer and staff on three principal community concerns — proximity to the longstanding Sanders Lake Sportsman Club shooting range, the project’s impact on school capacity, and traffic and road-design changes tied to the proposal.

Developer representatives told the board they altered the site plan to address range-adjacent concerns. “The setback…was increased from 56 feet to a 134 feet to the back of the lot line,” Paige Wyra, speaking for the applicant, said, adding that proffers include a vinyl-clad fence and expanded planting buffer. County staff described the proffered buffer as a type C planting buffer (35 feet with planting requirements) plus an additional 10 feet of plantings — effectively a roughly 45-foot vegetated buffer — with the remainder of the space to be maintained as open space out to the approximately 134-foot separation described to the commission.

On schools, Hauser summarized the county’s student-yield calculations: using St. Mary’s existing yield factors, Stewart’s Grant’s full build-out would generate a projected 516 students. He told commissioners that, factoring projected allocations and other developments, the county’s estimate produced a 13-year period during which allocated school seats would absorb the project’s student yield. Hauser also noted that if neighboring counties’ yield formulas (Calvert and Charles) were applied, the projected student yield would be lower.

Traffic and roadway design drew close attention. Traffic consultant Jackie Plott described the planned roadway as modeled on FDR Boulevard: “one lane in each direction with 6-foot shoulders” and left-turn bays at major access points. Plott said the revised plan omits a raised median to allow bypass around incidents and that restriping or widening at key exits could add two outbound lanes to reduce stacking at intersections.

Noise and safety concerns tied to the Sanders Lake range remained a topic of questions. Commissioners asked whether a sound study had been completed; project representatives said no sound study had been performed, and the developer plans disclosures in sales documents informing buyers of the adjacent shooting range.

Outcome and next steps: After discussion the commissioners voted to adopt text 240030 as presented. The ordinance includes the reduced unit cap, the phasing schedule, the increased open-space commitment and the road-design change from a multi-lane to a two-lane configuration where specified. Staff will implement the ordinance provisions and monitor required plan submittals and phasing compliance.