Calvert County commissioners on Jan. 14 voted to send a revised zoning ordinance to public hearing that would merge the county’s light industrial (I‑1) and industrial mixed‑use (IMU) districts into a single industrial district and add a special‑exception route for heavy industrial uses.

The measure, moved during the board’s discussion of the Planning and Zoning department’s draft update and approved by the full board, directs staff to prepare a hearing draft that harmonizes permitted and conditional uses in the two districts and preserves existing conditions such as a 25,000‑square‑foot cap for “home improvement centers” located outside town centers. The board also directed that heavy industrial uses be treated as a special exception routed to the Board of Appeals.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the consolidation aims to reduce public and staff confusion about which district existing businesses fall into and to limit large “big‑box” footprints on industrial land while preserving options for appropriate industrial development.

Planning staff told the board the November 2024 draft zoning ordinance and the Planning Commission’s December 30 recommendation prompted the discussion. Staff outlined distinctions between I‑1 and IMU uses — for example, some waste‑handling and commercial fuel storage uses are listed only in I‑1, while a range of retail and civic uses are allowed in IMU. Planners and commissioners said those differences have led to inconsistent interpretations for existing sites.

Commissioners pressed staff on safeguards. The board reaffirmed the 25,000‑square‑foot limit in the draft for home‑improvement‑center development outside of town centers (the cap, staff said, mirrors existing draft language) and directed that any heavy industrial activity that might pose greater impacts be subject to the Board of Appeals via a special‑exception requirement. Staff and commissioners also discussed buffers, setbacks and conditional use standards for data centers and other heavier industrial categories that may require additional review.

Several commissioners voiced concern about unintended outcomes and called for explicit review triggers and stronger public‑notice or community‑engagement steps for particularly large or sensitive projects. Planning staff said most projects will still require a site plan and multiagency staff review before Planning Commission consideration; they also said text amendments remain an option for uses not explicitly captured in the revised use table.

The motion — “that we prepare zoning ordinance for the public hearing that we consolidate I‑1 and IMU mixed use district in a single district with the uses proposed for the I‑1 and IMU allowed in the same conditions and requirements reflected in the current draft and zoning ordinance, and add a special exception for the heavy industrial uses in the light industrial district” — passed on voice vote. The board did not record a roll‑call tally in the meeting minutes.

The board also asked staff to continue outreach to potential applicants and to make clear how business owners can request interpretations or text amendments if their proposed use does not fit the revised categories.