Commission approves preliminary subdivision plan for Lamson property after lengthy debate on tree conservation and utilities

The Havre de Grace Planning Commission voted 4–2 May 15 to approve a preliminary subdivision plan for the 22.6-acre Lamson property (building permit 2024-0333), allowing a 39-lot single-family detached subdivision under lot specification D.

Director of Planning Jeffrey Goins presented staff’s review, which found the application complies with applicable zoning and subdivision regulations on lot dimensions, setbacks, parking and sidewalks and determined the project could meet adequate public facilities if the applicant provided a funding mechanism for needed water-system upgrades. The staff memo noted the elementary school serving the site, Havre de Grace Elementary, is at 111 percent capacity but adjacent schools had room.

The plan drew extended questioning and public comment focused on environmental impacts and process. Commissioners, city staff and applicant representatives debated whether the proposed private connector road (referred to in the plan as Road A) should be routed through forest-retention land inside the Bully Rock development or through Greenway Farms to Route 40; the applicant said the Bully Rock route was chosen to reduce impacts to existing yards and to provide sidewalk connectivity into Bully Rock’s trail system.

Conservation and tree protection were central issues. The staff report said the site contains about 13.15 acres of forest and 67 specimen trees; the applicant filed a forest conservation plan and a request to impact a limited number of specimen trees. Commissioner Farhat Shah and multiple members of the public said the preliminary application lacked sufficient mapping of 6‑inch-caliper and specimen trees, limits of disturbance and tree-protection details required by the city landscape and forest-conservation rules. Several residents submitted photographs and asked the commission to preserve the forested buffer behind existing homes. The applicant’s consultants said on-site surveys had identified specimen trees, that many specimen trees proposed for retention were in poor condition, and that a revised, larger-scale forest-conservation submission had been provided to the department for review after the staff report.

Adequate public facilities and utilities were also disputed. Public-works comments issued in April said the water system required upgrades (including pumps and possible tank work at the Graceview tower) to reliably serve the development; the applicant said it and the city had been negotiating memoranda of understanding for funding required improvements. Commissioners asked for copies or verification of MOUs and confirmation from the department of public works that needed upgrades were covered in the proposed funding approach.

Public commenters, including multiple Greenway Farms and Peace Chance Drive residents, urged the commission to pause approval until the city clarified notice procedures and the conservation impacts; residents said they had bought homes expecting a forested buffer. Historic-preservation advocates asked the developer to document and retain the historic farmhouse on the property; the applicant said the house would be stabilized and set on a larger lot for restoration.

Commission debate centered on whether outstanding technical details required denial, tabling, or approval with conditions. Commissioner Chip Place and others urged more detailed forest-conservation and landscape mapping and documentation of any MOUs. Commissioner Harry Miller moved to recommend approval per the staff report; after discussion the commission adopted the motion with a 4–2 vote. Commissioners who opposed said the packet lacked critical conservation and adequacy details; those who supported the motion relied on staff findings and said departments would enforce code requirements at final engineering and plan stages.

The approval allows the applicant to proceed to later-stage engineering and final subdivision review; permits and grading will be withheld until the applicant demonstrates compliance with forest-conservation requirements, stormwater controls and any public-works conditions specified in future public-works approvals.

Votes at a glance: Building permit 2024-0333 (Lamson property) — preliminary subdivision plan approved, 4–2.