Calvert County staff present draft updates to agricultural preservation rules; landowners raise contract, survey and tenant-house concerns

Calvert County Planning & Zoning staff held a public information session in Prince Frederick to present draft updates to the county Agricultural Preservation Rules and Regulations and to gather public feedback ahead of a Board of County Commissioners hearing now scheduled for Sept. 30, 2025.

The department’s stated objectives for the draft are to unify earlier text amendments into a single set of regulations, make the local rules consistent with the county zoning ordinance adopted earlier this year, clarify administration of agricultural preservation districts (APDs), and reopen the process for new APD designations after a moratorium that has been in place since 2013. “This is meant to be a conversation about the agriculture preservation program here in Calvert County,” said Jason Brickley, the county’s director of planning and zoning, opening the meeting.

The draft presented by Jennifer David and staff lays out multiple substantive changes. Staff said the county’s goal remains to permanently preserve at least 40,000 acres and that, to date, about 32,600 acres have been preserved through county, state and federal programs; 24,229 acres were preserved through the county agricultural preservation program, Jennifer David said. The draft incorporates the TDR reserve bank created in 2021, updates eligibility and application criteria for APD designation, clarifies when APDs are considered “permanently preserved,” and aligns program administration language with the March 2025 Calvert County Zoning Ordinance.

Key technical changes described by staff include: - Minimum acreage thresholds that vary by location: properties contiguous to an existing preserved APD and inside mapped priority preservation or rural legacy areas may be eligible with less than 50 acres (with Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board approval); noncontiguous proposals generally require at least 50 acres. Properties outside those areas would generally need…