Calvert County presents Huntingtown, Owings and St. Leonard town‑center survey results; informational meetings set for October

Calvert County planning staff on Sept. 17 presented results of online surveys conducted this summer for the Huntingtown, Owings and St. Leonard town‑center master plan updates and outlined initial public outreach scheduled for October.

Long Range Planner (presenter identified in the record as) Taherson told the Planning Commission the county made an online survey available between July 23 and Aug. 25 to collect public feedback on vision and priorities for each town center. Staff reported the surveys asked respondents about residence length, ZIP code, age group, key draws to each town center, the biggest challenges, changes in the last 10 years, and whether the area should remain designated as a town center or convert to a rural commercial zoning district. Staff also presented maps of town‑center boundaries and summarized the responses.

Staff reported approximately 390 participants in the Huntingtown survey, 214 participants for Owings and 488 participants for St. Leonard. Common themes across the three town centers included appreciation for a small‑town, rural character and convenience of local services; recurring concerns were traffic congestion and intersection safety (Route 4 and MD 260 were named), limited sidewalks and pedestrian/bicycle facilities, and difficulty attracting retail and family‑style restaurants. Staff said the three most frequently selected topics across the surveys were land use, environment and natural resources, and parks and recreation or economic vitality (varied by town center).

On the question of designation, staff reported a split of opinion: for Huntingtown staff reported 39% of respondents favored retaining a town‑center designation while 60% favored converting to a rural commercial zoning district; staff reported different splits for Owings and St. Leonard (staff provided the exact percentages in the presentation slides and in the survey summary). Planning staff emphasized the survey is an early, preparatory step in the master‑plan updates: "This is not even step 1 in updating the plans," the presenter said, calling the survey a pre‑step to broader data collection and outreach.

Staff announced initial public outreach and informational meetings: Oct. 6 — St. Leonard at Crossroads Church, 150 Bell Road; Oct. 14 — Huntingtown at the Volunteer Fire Department; Oct. 20 — Owings at Grace Brethren Church. Staff said they had used the county website, a press release, social media (Facebook and Nextdoor), banners in town centers and the county app to publicize the meetings.

Commission discussion: Several commissioners said they wanted more information before committing to changes that would require comprehensive‑plan amendments. Legal counsel John Mattingly and staff described the process for changing a town‑center designation: options under consideration include retaining town‑center status, distinguishing between minor and major town centers, converting one or more town centers to a rural commercial district (which would require comprehensive plan amendments and a statutory 60‑day review and hearings), or creating a small town‑center style district such as a village or community mixed‑use district.

A commissioner moved that the planning commission "defer further action and direct staff to provide information concerning the public hearings that are coming up in October, as well as a brief synopsis of the necessary steps to change town centers from town center to rural commercial, and present said additional information for Planning Commission review at the next meeting." The motion was seconded and passed on voice vote; commissioners present voted aye (vote recorded in the meeting as passing; mover and seconder were not identified in the verbal record). Staff said the next substantive update will follow the October public meetings and subsequent agency review periods.

Why it matters: Changing a town‑center designation would require amendments to the county comprehensive plan and zoning code and could alter the allowed uses, density and review process for properties inside those town‑center boundaries. Commissioners emphasized that any such change will require public hearings, agency comment periods and time to vet alternatives.

Next steps: Staff will hold the October informational meetings, produce a summary of what the meetings produce, and return to the Planning Commission with additional information about the public input and the procedural steps needed for any comprehensive‑plan amendment.