St. Mary's County holds public hearing on comprehensive zoning overhaul; residents raise mapping, density and critical‑area concerns

St. Mary's County officials and planning staff presented proposed, countywide revisions to zoning maps and ordinance text at a joint public hearing on May 20, 2010, and opened the record for written comments through June 15, 2010.

The proposed changes would implement the county's recently adopted comprehensive plan and include a new Residential Low‑Density Transitional (RLT) zone; rezoning a handful of schools into designated growth areas; options to reduce the 50% open‑space requirement in growth areas for measures such as enhanced design or affordable/workforce housing; new uses for small equestrian centers and, subject to standards, campgrounds in some critical‑area waterfront locations; updated subdivision design standards to limit disruption of farmland; stronger outdoor‑lighting rules; and digital submission of record plats, among other revisions.

Why it matters: county staff said prompt implementation is intended to reduce the lag between adoption of the comprehensive plan and its zoning implementation. Phil Shire, deputy director of the Department of Land Use and Growth Management, told the joint Board of County Commissioners and Planning Commission that the revision package is the culmination of a multi‑year process that began in 2008 and that the public hearing on May 20 is the third on the topic. Shire said the package aims both to guide development toward appropriate areas and to preserve natural, agricultural and cultural resources.

Most substantive proposals and…