Planning commission holds public hearing on water and sewer category change for 7.9-acre Thompson parcel in St. Mary's County

The St. Mary's County Planning Commission held a public hearing on a request to amend the county’s Comprehensive Water and Sewerage Plan to change service categories for a 7.9-acre parcel known as the Thompson property at 23277 Huckleberry Way.

Dave Chapman, capital facilities planner with the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, said the application (case reference CWSPTen-twoHundred-two) would change the property’s water and sewer categories from W-6D and S-6D (service in six to 10 years) to W-3D and S-3D (service in three to five years) to serve a proposed seven-lot residential subdivision. Chapman said Technical Evaluation Committee comments, and submissions from the Health Department and METCOM (Metropolitan Commission), support connection to public water and sewer and that the Lexington Park water system and the Marley Taylor wastewater recycling facility can handle the seven equivalent dwelling units (EDUs).

Jim Gotch of Loiterman Soltes, representing the developer, described the plan to extend Tallwood Road into the parcel and provide temporary turnaround access, with future interconnection to adjacent phases when those sections are developed. He said the developer will place a forest conservation easement across the northern part of the site and will bear installation costs to connect to existing service lines; all construction would follow St. Mary’s County standard specifications for water and sewage construction.

Neighbors at the hearing said their chief concerns were the effect on the private Huckleberry Way right-of-way, the risk of being assessed for road improvements, and significant drainage and standing-water problems in the area. Todd Walter, who described himself as the owner of the northern-most lot on Huckleberry Way, said, “My main concern was the right of way… I’ve heard horror stories… you have to pave the road to county standards and everybody goes into a tax district to pay for it.” Several neighbors including Benjamin Taish and Alistair McIntyre described persistent standing water, culvert capacity issues, and localized flooding and hydrostatic pressure affecting basements in Dahlia Park.

Chapman and Gotch answered questions about notification and access: Chapman said certified-mail receipts were on file for the required neighbor notifications; Gotch confirmed the developer will not use the existing Huckleberry Way access through the center of the parcel and that a forest conservation easement will block that access. On drainage, staff said small, localized puddles with wetland-type vegetation do not automatically become state-protected wetlands and that county public works would address a county-road drainage problem; staff also said stormwater management design and details will be evaluated further at preliminary plan review.

The commission closed the public hearing to oral testimony but, after discussion, voted to leave the written record open for 10 days for additional written comments to be submitted to Land Use and Growth Management. Planning staff and the applicant agreed to notify interested neighbors when the preliminary plan is scheduled so neighbors can review stormwater and access details in the next review stage.

Because this hearing concerned a category change to the county’s Comprehensive Water and Sewerage Plan, formal final approval would occur later in the county-commission process; the Planning Commission’s action at this meeting was limited to the public hearing record and procedural determinations.