Board of Appeals hears variance request to alter lot coverage at 18151 River Road in Tall Timbers

The St. Mary's County Board of Appeals on March 13 held a public hearing on a variance application for 18151 River Road in the Tall Timbers neighborhood that would replace existing impervious surfaces with a proposed guest quarters and small additions to the main house.

The application, filed for a 10,000-square-foot parcel zoned Rural Preservation District (RPD) and within the Critical Area Limited Development Area (LDA), seeks relief from St. Mary's County Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) lot-coverage limits so the property owners can demolish some existing hard surfaces and build a guest living area and two additions. The board did not take a final vote during the hearing.

The case matters because the lot lies inside the county Critical Area overlay, where impervious-surface limits are intended to protect water quality. County planning staff said the proposed change would reduce total impervious surface compared with current conditions but would still exceed the ordinance limit for the lot.

Staff and applicant details Staff presented that the parcel is 10,000 square feet, that the allowable lot coverage under county rules is 31.25 percent (3,125 square feet), and that the property currently measures roughly 4,138 square feet of impervious surface. The staff report and slides show the applicant would remove portions of driveway, sidewalk, deck and a shed and construct a guest quarters and two small additions. Staff reported the new total lot coverage would be about 3,976 square feet, which remains 851 square feet over the allowable 3,125.

Planner Stacy Clements, Land Use and Growth Management, explained that, because earlier aerial imagery is low resolution, county records cannot conclusively show which impervious surfaces predated March 27, 1990; that uncertainty is why the project must be considered by the Board of Appeals rather than handled as an impervious-surface swap through the Planning Commission.

Applicant presentation and questions An attorney representing the applicants (identified inconsistently in the record; the transcript lists both "Mr. Larmore" and "Chris Longborough") told the board the proposal would result in a net reduction in lot coverage from current conditions and highlighted that the Critical Area Commission commented the change would be environmentally beneficial. The representative said the new structure is intended as a guest/elder-care living area, not a separate dwelling unit, and that it would not contain a full-size kitchen; the proposal will include a bathroom and will tie into the existing lateral to the Metcom grinder pit.

The record includes contractor Kevin McElhaney (Shady Lane Construction) and surveyor Barry Buckmer (Chesapeake Trails Surveying) as project team members; owners listed in the file are Andrew Sohn, Jessica Sohn and Susan Sohn.

Approvals and outstanding items Staff noted the site plan is pending Health Department and Metcom approvals. Because the proposed added impervious area is under 5,000 square feet, the project was described as exempt from county stormwater and Soil Conservation District stormwater requirements. The applicants told the board they are prepared to enter a buffer-management/planting agreement with the county, and staff said the application includes about 2,553 square feet of proposed plantings or mitigation.

Several board members asked technical questions about the location of the existing shed and surrounding parking, the nature of the guest quarters, setback/building restriction lines, and the quality of aerial imagery used to determine historical coverage. The applicant stated they had a notarized letter from the adjacent neighbor consenting to use of the area where the existing shed sits and that no formal objections had been filed in the department record at the time of the hearing.

No formal action recorded The transcript of the hearing ends with board questions; no motion or vote is recorded in the provided excerpt. The Board of Appeals will take the application under consideration and may act at a later meeting or after receiving outstanding agency approvals and a finalized buffer/planting agreement.

Community and regulatory context The parcel is in the county Critical Area overlay (LDA), and the record shows the Critical Area Commission provided written comment requiring the applicant to meet all variance standards, including demonstrating unwarranted hardship. The applicant and staff emphasized that the plan seeks to reduce existing lot coverage and avoid disturbance to the 100-foot buffer that provides the most protection to water quality.

What remains unresolved The record identifies several outstanding items that may affect a final decision: confirmation of historical impervious surfaces prior to March 27, 1990 (a date tied to Critical Area regulations), Health Department and Metcom sign-offs, and formal acceptance of the buffer-planting/management agreement. The board also requested the notarized neighbor-consent letter be placed in the record.

Ending The Board of Appeals hearing on VAAP (variance) for 18151 River Road provided technical detail and cross-agency notes but did not conclude with a decision in the published transcript. The matter remains under review pending supplemental materials and agency approvals.