Wildwood PUD update: 2,728 of 3,792 units built; Route 235 Phase 4 and townhouse redesign discussed

The St. Mary's County Planning Commission on Feb. (date not specified) received its semiannual update on the Wildwood planned unit development (PUD), during which developer representatives reported that 2,728 of the 3,792 permitted residential units are built or covered by certificates of occupancy and described progress on road, utility and site-plan work.

Sean Day, engineering director for the Maryland division of Stanley Martin Homes, told commissioners the project has secured 38 building permits since the last update and obtained 85 certificates of occupancy in that period. "There are 3,792 units allowed in the PUD, and currently there are 2,728 units built or under a C of O, which leaves 1,064 units to be built," Day said.

The update also covered transportation improvements along Maryland Route 235, which the developer presented as a four-phase corridor improvement tied to the PUD. Day described Phase 4 as a northbound turn lane and an acceleration lane roughly 800 feet north of Airport Road, opposite the shopping center; he said that Phase 4 was in site-plan approval and "might likely take another year or so, and then maybe another couple after that to get through the construction phase of it." The commission did not take action on the Route 235 work during the meeting.

Commissioners and staff reviewed Wildwood's open-space accounting. Day reported the PUD's build-out requirement of 444.92 acres of open space and 84.88 acres of developed open space, and said current figures leave a substantial surplus for the existing 2,728 units: 303.54 acres of open space in excess of the requirement and 69.58 acres of excess developed open space. "We have a significant amount of excess, and based on our projections, we feel very confident that there, that won't happen [run out of open space]," Day said, referring to the possibility that future construction could exhaust required open space.

Commissioners asked for clarification of site- and pod-level figures in the packet. Day walked through the sectional approval history that breaks down originally approved units, recorded lots, building permits and certificates of occupancy by development pod. He said some land shown on the meeting maps—white areas to the west of Magnolia Park—are owned by Wildwood Residential LLC but are not part of the PUD.

The commission also heard that one Wildwood parcel, labeled Wildwood Landing, is being reconfigured internally by the developer. "That project was previously approved for 200 condominium units, and we changed the design to go to 67 townhouse units," Day said. He added that the redesign "is in house" and that county planning staff and Phil Shire will process the change.

Staff discussed commercial and nonresidential allocations within the PUD: a PD commercial park (referred to as the Technology Park off Pecan Court) and a separate PDR convenience category that allows neighborhood-convenience uses (for example, a doctor's office). Day said little of the PDR convenience allocation has been built or planned to date.

Commissioners asked whether planned regional transportation projects—an airport-area road relocation and a cross-county connector shown on the county master transportation plan—would affect Wildwood property. Day said the cross-county connector alignment shown on the meeting map came from county Department of Public Works materials and noted the connector is on the master plan but not funded.

No formal action was taken on the PUD update. Commissioners accepted the update for the record; the packet and Day’s presentation served as the progress report required by the PUD. The commission conducted two administrative votes during the meeting: acceptance of the Jan. 11 minutes and a motion to adjourn.

The developer and county staff said the PUD update is presented twice a year and that staff will continue to process in-house revisions such as the Wildwood Landing redesign.

(Reporting note: meeting date and exact vote tallies were not specified in the transcript.)