Havre de Grace planning panel approves preliminary plan for 290‑home 'Legacies' subdivision despite traffic, forest and school concerns

The Havre de Grace Planning Commission on May 29 approved a preliminary subdivision plan for the Legacies, a proposed 290‑lot residential development on about 63 acres near Lehi Road and Bulle Rock Parkway, voting 5–1 to accept the application subject to four staff conditions.

The proposal, submitted by members of the Green family, would create 101 single‑family detached lots and 189 townhome (single‑family attached) lots and dedicates a 5.72‑acre park adjacent to Bulle Rock Parkway. Planning staff had recommended approval with five conditions; commissioners struck the fifth condition before voting. The decision advances the project to the next (final plat/site) phase but does not authorize construction, which remains contingent on later approvals and infrastructure work.

Why it matters: The Legacies is a large infill subdivision that will add hundreds of residents, new vehicle trips and pressure on nearby schools, roads and existing forested areas. The hearing drew extended testimony from residents raising safety, traffic and environmental concerns and from the applicant’s legal and engineering team. Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant about adequate public facilities — water, sewer and traffic mitigation — and about forest conservation and specimen trees.

The plan and staff review

The plan covers roughly 63 acres at 2000–2010 Lehi Road in the city’s RB (Residential Business) zoning district. The applicant proposes three development phases that together total 290 lots (101 detached; 189 townhouses). The submission includes a concept stormwater management plan, a preliminary forest conservation/forest stand delineation that staff said was approved in 2021, and a landscaping plan under review.

Planning staff told the commission that the site is not in a FEMA floodplain or in the Chesapeake Bay critical area, that sewer capacity had been reviewed by Public…