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Commissioners schedule public hearing for Pax River Village Center rezoning; Planning Commission split 4–3
Summary
The county commissioners scheduled a June 24 public hearing on a developer request to reclassify four parcels in the Pax River Village Center to mixed-use high intensity to allow a proposed 91-townhome project.
The Commissioners of St. Mary's County voted on May 20 to schedule a public hearing for June 24 on a zoning-map amendment and comprehensive-plan map amendment for parcels in the Pax River Village Center in Lexington Park.
Courtney Jenkins, planner with the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, presented the application (Zone 204-413) and said the request would change land-use designations for four parcels from limited commercial/industrial and medium-intensity mixed use to mixed-use high intensity (MXH) for the portions lying outside the A-Qs. Jenkins said the proposal seeks consistency with the Lexington Park Development District master plan and the county's zoning ordinance.
The applicant is proposing a project of 91 townhomes on about 9.5 acres that will require 25 transfer-of-development-rights (TDRs), Jenkins told the board. Under current zoning, Jenkins said, the medium-intensity mixed-use district (MXM) permits up to about 5 units per acre and up to 25 units per acre with TDRs; the requested MXH zoning would allow about 7 units per acre and up to 30 units per acre with TDRs.
The Planning Commission considered the application on May 5 and recommended approval by a 4–3 vote. Jenkins said the applicant had submitted neighborhood boundaries consistent with the staff report and that most public comments received by staff were in favor. She also said the base planning liaison (CPLO) had attended the Planning Commission hearing and that the base representative told staff she would likely attend the commissioners' hearing as well.
Jenkins noted the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (referred to in the record as the NAS Pax River liaison) provided a comment that the base does not support rezoning inside the A-Quiet zones (A-Qs); Jenkins emphasized the application area is for parcels outside the A-Qs. The commissioners also heard that the concept site plan for the 91 townhomes had been recommended by the Planning Commission conditional upon approval of the requested map amendments.
The board approved scheduling the public hearing for the morning of June 24, 2025. The motion to set the hearing passed; one commissioner abstained from the vote.
Why it matters: a change to mixed-use high-intensity zoning would increase allowable residential density and expand allowable uses on the parcels, enabling the developer's proposed townhome project if the map amendments and subsequent plan approvals are granted.
Next steps: the county will hold the public hearing on June 24. The commissioners will accept public testimony and then decide whether to adopt the comprehensive-plan and zoning map amendments needed for the project to proceed to a concept/site-plan review and final approvals.
