Council hears request to revert Reagan's Run subdivision from planned sewer service to well-and-septic; public hearing set for May 6

At a Wicomico County Council work session April 15, Brian Wilkins, the county public works engineer, and planning staff briefed the council on a water and sewer plan amendment request for the Reagan's Run subdivision (Riverside Drive extension, west of Sharps Point Road). The applicant seeks to change the sewer service designation from S4 to S6 so the subdivision can proceed with on-site wells and septic rather than a community package sewer system.

Wilkins told the council the water designation is currently W6 and that the request is to amend only the sewer designation. Planning staff described a complicating legal and mapping issue: the state-required tier map currently identifies the site as tier 2a, which by statute (the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act / tier mapping process referenced in the meeting) prevents major subdivisions on individual septic systems. To develop more than seven lots on septic in a parcel mapped tier 2a, the county must perform a water-and-sewer plan amendment and a corresponding tier-map amendment to move the parcel back to a tier that allows major subdivisions on well and septic.

Planning staff said the parcel was originally mapped for service because an earlier design called for a package sewer system; the developer scaled back the plan after a prior recession and now proposes a smaller subdivision served by wells and septic. The county has processed similar cases in the past (staff cited a previous example, Nutter’s ponds), and staff said Fruitland public-works staff had been contacted and did not oppose reverting the parcel, though Fruitland does not plan to annex or serve the site.

Council members raised concerns about long-term costs and environmental risks. Several members asked whether allowing more septic systems in the area could create future public costs for sewer infrastructure, noting higher groundwater tables and failing septic systems in parts of the county. Staff noted that absent the tier map this request might not have required county-level water-and-sewer amendment but that the parcel’s current mapping status necessitated the formal process. Wilkins said the council would have subsequent public notices and a formal public hearing.

Wilkins told the council that the public hearing for the water and sewer plan amendment would be scheduled as a resolution at the council’s May 6 meeting.

Why it matters: The request illustrates the interaction between local development proposals and state-mandated tier mapping. Allowing more lots on septic now could be cheaper for a developer but may transfer future infrastructure costs or environmental risk to taxpayers if community sewer service becomes necessary later.

What’s next: The council will take the item to a public hearing on May 6 in the form of a resolution; no formal action was taken at the April 15 work session.