Board clears stream‑buffer variance for 140‑unit Pembroke townhouses after stormwater review

The Saint Mary's County Board of Appeals on June 12 unanimously approved a variance, VAAP 24-0304, permitting disturbance of expanded stream buffers for the proposed Pembroke 140‑unit townhouse development in Lexington Park, conditioned on the engineering and permitting requirements identified by staff.

The undeveloped site is about 27.83 acres on Meadow Creek Drive and Willows Road. The concept plan was approved by the Saint Mary's County Planning Commission on Feb. 10, 2025, contingent on variances for the expanded stream-buffer disturbance. Department staff showed exhibits of perennial and intermittent streams along the property’s rear and eastern boundaries and identified several locations where roadway grading, storm‑water outfalls and storm‑water-management facilities would encroach into the expanded buffers because of the site’s slopes, soils and the need to tie into existing sewer infrastructure.

Applicant representatives said the proposed design locates multiple environmental site‑design facilities — including submerged gravel wetlands, bio‑retention areas and grass swales — to treat run‑off and slow peak discharge before water reaches the streams. The engineering team told the board they reduced the permanent stream‑buffer impacts by 213 square feet and temporary impacts by 1,633 square feet compared with the planning‑commission concept plan and said the final storm‑water management design will meet Maryland Department of the Environment and county Department of Public Works technical standards.

Several residents spoke during public testimony. Louis Collier, president of the Pembroke Homeowners Association, expressed concern that Pembroke Run and its tributaries already swell during heavy storms and urged the board to delay approval pending more study of neighborhood drainage and potential impacts. Applicant engineers responded that the distributed storm‑water facilities are designed to ‘‘mimic woods in good condition’’ — capturing and treating both the quantity and quality of runoff — and that stormwater outfalls and erosion controls will be engineered to DPW standards. Other speakers urged approval to increase workforce housing supply in Lexington Park.

Board members asked technical questions about stream depth, outfall design, and the distance from new roadways to nearby homes; staff and the applicant supplied draft plan locations and agreed final design and DPW review would be required prior to permitting.

After discussion, a motion to approve the variance (section 71.7 0.4 point c to disturb the expanded stream buffer) passed unanimously. Staff will prepare an order reflecting the decision for the board to sign within 60 days; a 30‑day appeal period follows the signing.