Commissioners continue St. Mary’s Crossing rezoning hearing after traffic, access and environmental concerns

St. Mary’s County commissioners on Sept. 9 continued a public hearing on a rezoning request and planned unit development (PUD) called St. Mary’s Crossing so staff, the applicant and residents could respond to conditions and outstanding issues including traffic on Maryland Route 4, secondary access and environmental protections.

The application covers about 249.486 acres owned by St. Mary’s Crossing LLC and seeks approval for 868 residential units — a mix of single-family detached, attached townhomes, duplexes and multifamily rental buildings — to be built in phases over roughly seven to 10 years. The applicant also offered a 26-acre school site to the Board of Education and proposed community amenities, a new well and sewer extensions.

John Norris III, attorney for the applicant, told the commissioners the development plan proposes an overall density of 3.5 units per acre and includes “single family, duplexes, townhomes, and multifamily units” on the parcel. Architect Daniel Ball described five product types ranging from 1,340-square-foot townhomes to 2,300-square-foot single-family homes; the plan includes clubhouse and pool amenities and two elevator‑served multifamily buildings.

Traffic and access were the dominant issues in testimony from staff and area residents. David Nelson, the project’s traffic engineer, said the applicant’s traffic studies modeled three development phases and a future school and that State Highway Administration (SHA) review found the project’s proposed intersection improvements would permit construction of the first phase up to 350 units. “That will give us the 1st phase approval of the site up to 350 units,” Nelson said. He and county staff said longer‑term corridor capacity on MD 4 will require widening the highway to four lanes, a project currently listed on SHA’s needs inventory but not yet scheduled for design or construction.

Nelson and county staff said the applicant proposes on‑site improvements (turn lanes, auxiliary lanes and an entrance reconfiguration) and a fee‑in‑lieu program to contribute toward off‑site improvements. The developer’s draft agreement filed with the county sets a traffic mitigation fee of $2,008 per lot payable at building permit; county staff and Department of Public Works provided higher fee estimates during the review (staff memos circulated during the hearing cited figures proposed in the range of roughly $3,500 per unit).

Residents of nearby Saint Andrews Estates told commissioners they fear the existing difficulty of leaving their subdivision on Saint Andrews Lane will worsen. Michael Barnes and other neighbors objected to a proposed secondary access that would run across private lots; they said the right‑of‑way and maintenance responsibilities are contested and said they would not sign a maintenance agreement as proposed. Several speakers, including representatives of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and multiple neighbors, urged a traffic signal at the Hunt Club Road/Saint Andrews Lane intersection — or, alternatively, a roundabout — to make left‑turns and school‑bus movements safer.

Environmental concerns also featured in public comment. Local conservation activists cited the presence of wetlands, tributaries to the St. Mary’s River and potential habitat for the southern/narrow‑mouth toad (a species of conservation concern). Mary Broadhurst urged strict protections and noted Maryland Department of Natural Resources guidance for habitat protection. The applicant’s environmental counsel, Mark Cohen, said the team had filed and received preliminary DNR review of a habitat protection plan and that the plan’s buffers and protections would be incorporated in final permitting. Cohen also said the pond that currently exists on the site was formed by an older earthen dam and that the long‑term preservation of the pond and habitat will require rebuilding the outfall structure to meet modern dam and environmental standards.

Other technical points raised in the hearing: the applicant said Metcom (the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission) has been asked to host a production well on the site (drilled to about 1,000 feet); sewer from the project would be pumped to an interceptor connection near the Route 235/Wawa corridor; the development plan reserves open space, stormwater management and forest conservation areas; and the applicant said it had performed wetland delineations, soils borings and other environmental studies (some test pits were not taken on the proposed school parcel, per staff questions).

At the close of the hearing the Board of County Commissioners voted to continue the PUD public hearing and the companion developer’s rights and responsibilities agreement (DRA) to Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Chesapeake Building and kept the written record open for at least 10 days so the applicant can respond to staff’s draft conditions and the public can file written comments. The board also asked staff and the applicant to exchange written responses to the planning commission’s resolution and the staff’s 22 draft conditions before the continued hearing.

The continuation gives commissioners additional time to review the applicant’s written responses to the staff‑proposed conditions, to receive follow‑up materials on traffic mitigation and permit status from MDE/SHA/USACE, and to hear further community comment at the next scheduled meeting.

Votes at a glance: The board voted unanimously to continue the PUD public hearing to Sept. 16, 2008, and to continue the developer’s rights and responsibilities agreement to the same date; the motions were moved and seconded from the dais and carried by voice vote.

What’s next: Written comments on the record will be accepted for 10 days and the hearing will resume Sept. 16; staff and the applicant will submit written responses to the conditions and outstanding technical issues prior to that meeting.