Calvert County planning commission approves consolidating town center master plans into single document

The Calvert County Planning Commission on Feb. 27 adopted staff’s proposal to consolidate individual town center master plans into a single Master Plan of Town Centers and approved the proposed timeline for updating town-center chapters and corresponding zoning ordinances.

The department presented the consolidation as a streamlining measure to "eliminat[e] redundancy across the individual updates," and recommended using a three‑phase update process already endorsed by the commission. Tay Harris, Long Range Planner, told commissioners, "Rather than preparing individual updates for each town center master plan, the department recommends consolidating them into a single document, the master plan of town centers." The commission voted to adopt staff’s recommendation; commissioners announced the motion carried.

Why it matters: the consolidation groups shared background, goals and public‑participation processes into a single Chapter 1 that will apply to all town centers, while each town center will retain its own chapter for site‑specific policies and mapping. Staff said this will allow concurrent updates to the matching town‑center zoning ordinances so policies and zoning stay aligned.

Key details: staff said Chapter 1 would include countywide vision and goals, public outreach approach and the three‑phase update process. The immediate work program calls for staff to present draft Chapter 1 and the Prince Frederick town center chapter at the March planning commission meeting; if the commission directs, a planning commission public hearing would be held in May and a Board of County Commissioners hearing in June for Prince Frederick. Dunkirk’s chapter is scheduled to follow with a 60‑day comment period, then review and potential hearings. Staff recommended prioritizing the oldest town centers first; the list given (excluding Prince Frederick and Dunkirk) named Owings as the oldest, then Huntingtown, Lusby, Solomons and St. Leonard. Staff estimated roughly 14 months to adopt each town‑center chapter not already in progress.

Public comment and commission clarification: resident David Berry asked whether there would be a separate public comment period for Chapter 1 before commission action, saying the specific wording in Chapter 1 could be of "great public interest." Harris responded that Chapter 1 will be presented to the public along with the Prince Frederick draft and "the public will have the opportunity during the public hearing to comment on it," noting much of Chapter 1’s text derives from the Prince Frederick draft and had already been through a 60‑day review in that context.

Next steps: staff will bring draft Chapter 1 and the Prince Frederick town center chapter to the March meeting and seek guidance on whether to set a May planning commission public hearing and the Board of County Commissioners public hearing in June.