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Planning commission approves adding personal storage and warehousing uses in Office Business Park zone
Summary
After a staff presentation and limited questions, the Planning Commission approved a zoning text amendment to allow personal storage and warehousing in the Office Business Park (OBP) zone, with the expectation that general standards will be set in Chapter 51 to prevent large retail uses.
The St. Mary’s County Planning Commission voted Oct. 27 to add use number 64 (personal storage) and use number 78 (warehousing and storage) to the Office Business Park (OBP) zoning designation.
Philip Shire of the Department of Land Use and Growth Management told the commission the amendment is intended to align the OBP zone’s allowed uses with the county comprehensive plan goal of providing land for offices, labs and warehouses. He said roughly two-thirds of the county’s OBP acreage lies in the Lexington Park Development District and that much of the OBP area falls within the Navy’s Accident Potential Zone, where low-occupancy uses are preferable.
Commissioners asked whether the definition of warehousing would allow retail showrooms. Staff and Mr. Shire said the intent is storage and distribution in enclosed buildings and that the county could add general standards (in Chapter 51) to prohibit major retail operations in OBP and to make clearly incidental sales (for example, boxes and packing supplies at a self-storage facility) permissible as accessory activities.
Shire told the commission he had received no public comment opposing the amendment and said Navy staff had raised no objection to the proposed use in the APZ after review. After discussion the commission approved a motion to accept the amendments as proposed and authorized the chairman to sign a resolution forwarding the text amendment to the Board of County Commissioners.
Why this matters: The change lets developers lawfully propose enclosed storage and warehousing in OBP zones subject to the county’s site and project-review (TEC) process and any Chapter 51 general standards adopted later. The decision emphasizes the county’s interest in aligning zoning with both the comprehensive plan’s employment-parks objective and the Navy’s safety guidance for adjacent lands.
Next steps: Staff will add or refine general standards in Chapter 51 that limit retail and clarify performance and screening standards for warehousing and personal storage.
