St. Mary’s County holds public hearing on Stewart’s Grant PUD amendment; proposal would cut homes, shrink Bay Ridge Road and reserve school seats

St. Mary’s County commissioners on Thursday held a public hearing on an ordinance that would amend the Stewart’s Grant planned unit development (PUD), reduce the maximum number of authorized dwelling units, revise a planned road from four lanes to two, set a binding phasing schedule for build‑out and reserve school seats for the project.

Deputy County Attorney John Sterling Hauser told the commissioners the ordinance as drafted would "update the planned unit development plans," reduce the maximum authorized units on the roughly 400‑acre PUD from 1,122 to 1,084, increase planned open space to account for fewer homes and "revise a portion of the to‑be‑extended Bay Ridge Road from the current multi‑lane design called for in the development plan to [a] revised 2 lane design." Hauser said the Department of Public Works and Transportation supports the narrower configuration, adding it "believes that the smaller... 2‑lane design... will be safer and ultimately a slower traveling road."

Why it matters: the ordinance would also make a finding that countywide school capacity exists to absorb the project’s projected student yield and would reserve those required seats during the project’s build‑out. Hauser said the draft includes a binding phasing schedule that anticipates an average of about 108 dwelling units per year over 10 years after detailed site plans and permitting are under way.

Applicant counsel Paige Wyra and members of the developer team described the timing…