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County commissioner cites Navy opposition, ACUZ limits as factor in Lexington Park townhouse debate
Summary
A St. Mary’s County commissioner described a recent reversal by a Navy official on a 91-townhome Patuxent Village project in Lexington Park and said Air Installation Compatible Use Zone limits have constrained redevelopment. The planning commission recently voted 4-3 on the project and the county has left the public record open for seven days.
A St. Mary's County commissioner said a recent reversal by a Navy official and long-standing Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (ACUZ) constraints are complicating a redevelopment plan in Lexington Park.
The commissioner said the project, called Patuxent Village, would add 91 townhomes adjacent to the ACUZ and that a Navy captain who had previously said he was neutral on the project has since changed his position. "He said, they were neutral," the commissioner said of the earlier meeting with the Navy, and later added, "he reached out and said, hey. Look. I am I've changed my mind."
The commissioner said the county planning commission recently held a vote on the project that ended 4-3 and warned that different timing of the Navy captain's objection could have produced a different result. "That meeting was a vote of 4 to 3. And this decision could have been, opposite that," the commissioner said. The public record on the county decision has been left open for seven days to allow additional comment.
The commissioner placed the project in a broader history of development limits tied to the ACUZ, saying the zone has long reduced redevelopment in Lexington Park. "ACUZ was installed while I lived here... it put a damper on development in Lexington Park. It restricted the amount of redevelopment that could happen," the commissioner said. The speaker contrasted the ACUZ limits with recent private redevelopment on Mollison Plaza, which the commissioner described as a revitalization effort to create a more walkable community and provide daycare.
The commissioner also criticized what he described as inconsistent Navy practices, saying the Navy offers daycare inside the installation within the ACUZ but opposes similar facilities outside the ACUZ. "I always think it's interesting how the navy has daycare on the base in the ACUZ, but they wanna pose it to area that's outside ACUZ," the commissioner said.
No new formal action by the county board was reported in the transcript. The planning commission vote and the Navy captain's changed position were presented as context for the county's deliberations; the county's record remains open for additional public comment before a final decision.
Background: The Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (ACUZ) is the federal/local compatibility area often used to guide land use near military installations. The transcript referred to the planning commission vote, the Navy's earlier joint meeting with county representatives, and a pending county decision with the public record left open for seven days.
