St. Mary's County planning staff announced the kickoff for a North County Town Center small-area planning effort covering Charlotte Hall, Mechanicsville, New Market and Golden Beach, and said the first public meeting is scheduled for May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Charlotte Hall Library.

Bill Hunt, a county staff member, said the project will begin by examining the feasibility of a parallel road east of 3 Notch Road as requested previously by the Board of County Commissioners. The county selected Morton Thomas & Associates as the traffic consultant; staff said the consultant will evaluate potential routes, prepare traffic modeling and estimate order-of-magnitude construction costs (but will not estimate property-acquisition costs at this stage).

Grace (last name not specified), a staff member organizing outreach, said the kickoff meeting will present existing maps and ask residents for local knowledge about environmental constraints, historic resources and places where a new road would be infeasible. Staff said the project team hopes to establish a recurring meeting time and a permanent local meeting location (school or community building) so residents know where and when to provide input.

Staff described an existing east-side corridor segment that begins near Mount Wolfe Road in front of the Food Lion shopping center and continues through parcels near the Charlotte Hall Farmers Market; staff said that eastern route already has some built segments and was preferable to a west-side service road that would bisect a historic neighborhood. The consultant will examine whether a new road would shift traffic off 3 Notch or become a new arterial that generates additional trips; staff said modeling will address those scenarios.

Why it matters: The small-area plan and the parallel-road feasibility study could shape future development, local traffic patterns and capital-project priorities in the Charlotte Hall area. Staff emphasized the kickoff is a listening session and that no preferred alignment has been chosen.

Meeting and outreach details: the kickoff listening session is scheduled for May 18 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Charlotte Hall Library; staff said the notice would be posted on the county website as soon as possible and that future meetings are intended to include representatives from MetCom, Public Works, Economic Development and the health department.