St. Mary’s County and its Planning Commission held a joint public hearing May 19 at Margaret Brent Middle School in Leonardtown on a proposed zoning ordinance update tied to a recent update of the county’s comprehensive land use plan.

The hearing, led by President Russell of the Board of County Commissioners, included a 10-minute presentation by Derek Berlage, director of the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, who told the hearing that “the County Commissioners, a little over a month ago, approved an update to the St. Mary’s County comprehensive land use plan,” and that the ordinance draft flows from that decision. President Russell said the public record would remain open for written comments until June 15.

Why it matters: The ordinance would change procedures and standards used in land development across the county — including rules on open space, architectural controls, permitted uses and site-plan disclosures — and speakers at the hearing said those changes could affect property values, sewer and water service, and the affordability and character of neighborhoods.

Speakers at the hearing raised recurring concerns about four broad topics: (1) the administrative process for variances under the new forest conservation rules; (2) workforce-housing definitions and how the ordinance would (or would not) produce affordable units; (3) changes to open-space and amenity requirements for multifamily developments and subdivisions; and (4) specific rezoning requests and map clarifications. Business owners also urged insertion of renewable-energy language into the ordinance and asked for zoning corrections for existing commercial properties.

Developer and County Workforce Housing Task Force co-chair John Parlett praised staff for the draft but urged revisions on several points. Parlett recommended simplifying the administrative variance process under the forest conservation rules, saying the current proposed procedure is “pretty onerous” and that, for some tree removals, “this process could be as simple as at the discretion of the planning director once he's evaluated the information presented.” He also recommended removing workforce-housing definitions from the present ordinance draft and delegating that task to the County Workforce Housing Task Force to craft detailed definitions and implementation language.

Several speakers questioned proposed reductions and waivers to open-space requirements. The draft would allow reductions in required usable open space in certain development districts from 50% to 30% (section 32.3.4, as cited by speakers). Suzanne K. Henderson of California, Md., said she could not support the language as written because it lacks quantitative limits or criteria for when reductions would be allowed. Parlett likewise supported a reduction for designated development districts but urged guarantees that reductions yield actual workforce or affordable units.

Speakers also pressed provisions that address multifamily amenities, front building restriction lines and building frontage. Parlett and others said the ordinance appears to require, in some places, 70% of building frontage on the front building restriction line and two-story minimums for certain commercial centers — rules they said resemble urban downtown standards that may not fit suburban town centers and could be infeasible where sewer capacity is limited.

Business owners and property owners raised multiple map- and parcel-specific requests. Sonny Burch, owner of Burch Oil Company, asked that a Leonardtown property be rezoned back to industrial after it had been downzoned to limited commercial. Buddy Winslow, who identified himself as owner of Town Creek Point Marina and Greenwell Energy Solutions, asked that his marina — rebuilt under state and county permits — be rezoned from nonconforming commercial marine to commercial marine and asked the county to restore explicit language allowing geothermal, solar and wind installations in section 32.2 of the ordinance.

Residents described confusion about the maps provided at the hearing and voiced questions about the possible effects of rezoning on property taxes, water and sewer access and future development. Larry Chapelier of Mechanicsville asked specifically, “What’s going to happen with our property taxes?” and others worried that increased density could force connections to water and sewer systems. Pat Carson of Charlotte Hall asked whether low-density changes would require residents to abandon private wells and septic systems.

Procedural notes and next steps: The county announced two more opportunities for public comment: another public hearing May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Chesapeake Building in Leonardtown and an extended written comment period through June 15 (written comments to Board of County Commissioners or the Planning Commission, P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650). No formal motions or votes on the ordinance were taken during the May 19 hearing.

The discussion at the hearing will be considered by staff and the Planning Commission as the ordinance draft is revised and brought back for additional hearings and formal action.