Centreville council adopts Comprehensive Plan amendment, approves event sponsorship and advances multiple ordinances

The Centreville Town Council on May 15 adopted an amendment to the town—s Comprehensive Plan 2040 following a public hearing and took several other actions, including a $750 sponsorship for the Rockin— the Porch arts event and referral of sign-code changes to the planning commission.

The council opened a public hearing on Resolution 05-2025, which Sharon (staff member) summarized as "a bunch of map changes. It's all related to complete neighborhoods and making everything consistent with ... complete neighborhoods." Gay Adams, the town clerk, certified that the notice of the hearing was published in the Bay Times Record Observer on April 25, 2025. After hearing no public speakers in favor or opposed, the council discussed a technical edit to Exhibit A: replacing a business name reference with a parcel identifier. Council members agreed the Taco Bell parcel reference should be replaced by the parcel number before the ordinance is finalized. A motion to approve the Comprehensive Plan 2040 amendment passed.

Why it matters: the map and text changes in the comp plan affect future land-use designations across multiple parcels and implement the council—s "complete neighborhoods" policy direction, guiding zoning and development review.

Votes at a glance

- Comprehensive Plan 2040 amendment (Resolution 05-2025): Motion to approve amendment passed after a public hearing and an agreed edit to Exhibit A to replace a business name with a parcel identifier. (Public notice: Bay Times Record Observer, 04/25/2025.)

- Rockin' the Porch sponsorship: Council approved a $750 sponsorship for the Rockin' the Porch event organized by the Queen Anne's County Arts Council. Fern (Queen Anne's County Arts Council representative) told the council the event is "a really good thing for Centreville and a really great way for the council for the arts to give to the community." The sponsorship motion passed.

- Temporary waiver of town code §7-3 for on-site alcohol consumption at Rockin' the Porch: The council voted to waive section 7-3 contingent on the county liquor board approving off-site liquor sales for the event on October 5. Sharon read the code reference and the council moved and approved the contingent waiver.

- Closure of Lawyers' Row for event operations: Council authorized extending the Farmers' Market closure of Lawyers' Row to 8 p.m. on the event date to accommodate Rockin' the Porch activities; motion passed.

- First reading, FY 2026 budget (Ordinance 07-2025): The council conducted a first reading and held the advertised public hearing the same night; the ordinance will return for consideration at a subsequent meeting. Finance Officer Karen Luffman summarized key numbers in the packet, including transfers to fund balance ($99,009.90 in the general fund; $150,961 in the enterprise fund), a general-fund capital total of $342,000 and an enterprise-fund capital total of $115,000; grant-funded projects were listed in the packet as totaling $4,000,006.25 (noted in meeting materials).

- Sign code (Ordinance 06-2025): Council voted to refer proposed sign-code changes to the planning commission with a direction to clarify that electronic message centers and freestanding monument signs in school and residential zoning should be limited to public schools; motion passed.

- Dangerous-buildings ordinance (Ordinance 09-2025): Introduced for first reading; council scheduled a public hearing for June 26 to consider adopting a permanent measure following an earlier emergency ordinance. The ordinance would allow the town to repair or demolish dangerous buildings and place liens to recover costs.

- Public information officer services: The council voted to reject a single responsive bid to the town—s RFP and to accept PIO services through the town—s membership benefit with the local-government insurance trust (presented by Julie Parker Communications). The motion passed.

- Utility rate study: Council approved proceeding with a utility rate study and retained the $25,000 line in the budget for that purpose.

What council members and staff said

Sharon (staff member) framed the comp plan amendment as "map changes ... related to complete neighborhoods." Fern requested council sponsorship for the community arts event: "We're hoping you will be generous financially to us this year. Again, especially because with all the cuts in funding for the arts, we are broke." Finance Officer Karen Luffman explained budget spreadsheet changes and the placeholders in the capital and grant lists.

The meeting packet and public notices: Gay Adams, town clerk, presented the published notice for the comp plan hearing in the Bay Times Record Observer on April 25, 2025.

Procedural context and next steps

Several items were introduced as first readings or referrals and will return to the council after planning commission review or following required public hearings. The council asked staff to replace the specific business name in Exhibit A of the comp-plan amendment with a parcel identifier before final adoption. The Rockin' the Porch event was authorized to proceed with council sponsorship, a contingency waiver of §7-3 once the county liquor board approves off-site alcohol sales, and a temporary street closure to extend until 8 p.m. on the event date.

Ending note: The council handled both large policy work (the comp plan amendment) and routine municipal business in the same session; several items introduced tonight will come back for final votes after public comment or planning commission review.