County staff outline repeal and replacement of agricultural preservation rules with public comment set for August

Jennifer David, rural planner for Calvert County Planning and Zoning, presented a draft repeal and replacement of the county's agricultural preservation rules and regulations on July 30 and said the rewrite is intended to consolidate past policies, clarify administration of the transferable development rights (TDR) program, and ready the county to lift the long-standing moratorium on new Agricultural Preservation District (APD) applications.

The draft incorporates several substantive changes and clarifications, including: use of net acreage (excluding wetlands based on best available data) to compute TDRs; updated minimum acreage criteria for APD designation that vary by whether a parcel is in a priority preservation area or contiguous to preserved APDs; application of density by APD rather than by parcel; counting primary residences, buildable residential lots and tenant houses toward density; formal incorporation of a TDR reserve program (a county-run TDR bank established in 2021); and explicit rules for agritourism, including a maximum of 12 public events per year on APDs with APAB approval.

David said the rewrite would supersede previous versions, codify past board policy decisions into a single document, and strengthen eligibility and administration rules. She described minimum acreage thresholds that differ by location: in priority preservation areas or contiguous to preserved APDs an APD may be approved with fewer than 50 acres with Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board (APAB) approval; noncontiguous parcels generally require a 50-acre minimum; contiguous parcels outside priority areas generally require 25 acres or more with APAB approval; base density remains tied to a 25-acre unit. David also described existing practice that deducts five TDRs for each existing residence on a property and said field surveys will be required to determine net buildable acreage.

The draft clarifies that an APD is permanently preserved when all owners and parties with proprietary interest have signed a restrictive covenant and that covenants are coordinated for conveyances and allocations of TDRs. David said the update expands eligibility for the county's PAR fund (which removes TDRs from the market using county funds) to include all TDR owners of record and adds ranking criteria for funding. The TDR reserve program, created in 2021, would be fully incorporated and made available to all TDR owners of record under the draft.

On agritourism, David told the board agritourism activities and related uses are secondary to agriculture and are addressed in the Calvert County zoning ordinance; the draft sets criteria for approving private and public events and limits public events to 12 per year on APDs with APAB approval.

Commissioners and staff discussed points of interpretation and administration, including whether certain recordation language that governs withdrawal of a property from the program should be modified; the county attorney will review recordation documents and covenants. Jason Brinkley and other staff explained that updates to recordation documents aim to make permanent entitlements and permissible density clearer to landowners.

During public comment, two residents raised concerns. Jerry Pitcher, speaking for himself, warned that changing rules after landowners have entered binding contracts could prompt legal challenges and said changes to density and tenant-house treatment could affect long-term family plans and property value. Jay Seager, a resident, urged the county to consider legacy issues and the affordability challenges facing younger residents when drafting the rules.

Next steps: Planning staff will hold a public information session on August 28, 2025, and Planning and Zoning will accept written public comment beginning August 21, 2025. No adoption vote was taken at the July 30 meeting; the draft is an informational presentation and will return for formal action after the public-comment process and any legal review.