Carroll County BZA approves parking confirmation for Hampstead daycare’s summer camp

The Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals approved an expansion-of-nonconforming-use application to confirm that 30 parking spaces exist at a daycare center at 3459 Shiloh Road in Hampstead so the operator can obtain a use-and-occupancy permit to run a summer day camp.

The action came during Case No. 6556, introduced by staff and presented by applicant Randy Kelsey, who testified that he and his wife purchased the childcare center in 2017 and have been operating it since. He told the board the site currently accommodates 30 vehicles but earlier site plans on file did not reflect all of the spaces that were added over time.

Planning and county staff documents entered into the record — including memos from the Bureau of Development Review and the Carroll County planning staff — state the application is consistent with the Carroll County Master Plan (as amended 2019) and related functional plans. County environmental health staff advised that a proposed use may not be acceptable unless an adequate water supply and septic arrangements are demonstrated; the file also includes responses from town and state agencies noting no objections or no comments.

Kelsey described the permit need as tied to operating a summer camp under the Maryland Department of Health (rather than the Office of Child Care), which would allow different staff-to-child ratios. He said the center currently serves roughly 80–85 children on a typical peak day and that the camp could raise peak occupancy, though he did not specify a final projected enrollment figure in the hearing record. Kelsey said the lot is approximately three acres and that parking was expanded after the initial building additions; he presented a redlined site drawing and aerial photos showing the existing spaces.

Board members asked whether the gravel area where some vehicles park would be striped or otherwise demarcated as individual spaces; the applicant said he would mark the spaces if financially feasible but argued that the lot already accommodates the needed cars. The board received no public opposition in the file or at the hearing.

After discussion, the board moved to approve the application to expand the nonconforming use to show the correct number of parking spaces needed for the summer camp at the daycare center. The panel’s oral decision will be followed by a written decision issued within 30 days, and the decision may be appealed to the Circuit Court for Carroll County under Maryland Rules of Procedure Chapter 200, Title 7.

The record includes a tentative site visit date of May 21, 2025, and multiple agency responses filed as exhibits.