Havre de Grace planning commission extends Harbor Shops site plan for one year

The Havre de Grace Planning Commission voted 4–2 on March 20 to grant a one-year extension of the site plan approval for Harbor Shops MD 2 LLC, permit 20240340, allowing the developer more time to address outstanding technical items and coordinate state reviews.

The extension keeps in force the conditions set when the commission originally approved the Harbor Shops site plan on March 21, 2024, and is the first of up to two one-year extensions authorized by city code section 155-25(c). Planning department staff said the applicant is entitled to request the extension under that section and recommended approval.

Commissioners split over whether to extend or require the applicant to resubmit a complete, final site plan. Commissioner Chip Place led opposition, saying the commission had been asked a year earlier to act on an incomplete application and that several threshold items remain missing. "We were presented with an incomplete site plan application," Place said during the meeting, naming absent stand delineation drawings, a code reference for preserving trees over 6 inches in diameter (section 102.6), architectural drawings and photometric studies as examples.

Planning staff said the applicant submitted the materials the department had requested for the extension request: the site plan, a request letter, a forest conservation plan and variance/waiver materials and a landscape plan. Eric (planning department staff) told the commission the traffic impact study required for the project has been approved by the State Highway Administration and that the annexation tied to the site was effective in December. "The planning commission may grant up to two one‑year extensions of the site plan for a total of three years," Eric explained, and recommended approval of this first extension.

Developer Shane Malek and John Gonzales of Atwell, the engineering firm representing the applicant, told the commission they had worked closely with the city during the past year and had advanced specific items. Gonzales said the team received SHA approval of the traffic impact study and is coordinating grading and road tie-ins with nearby projects and tenants, including discussions with Popeye's. Malek said the team had pursued a forest conservation variance and other conditional items and that the project team had invested significant engineering time and marketing effort. "We acted in good faith, and we worked with Tim [the former director of planning] very closely on this project," Malek said.

Commissioners noted a threshold concern: the record lacks a clear, accessible copy of the existing forest conservation easement shown on the site plan. Several commissioners said the commission and department do not have the easement language or recorded plat in the file, and that extinguishing or redefining an easement is not within the planning commission's authority. Commissioner Place and other members said the applicant must provide the easement documentation before the commission can be confident the proposed layout complies with conservation restrictions.

The applicant said it had submitted a variance request to address the easement and had discussed next steps with staff; the planning department staff described the city process for transmitting forest conservation plans and variances to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) for review. Planning staff estimated MDNR review timelines can be on the order of 30–60 days depending on backlog.

Commissioners also debated how strictly to apply site plan submittal requirements — particularly architectural standards that code section 155-16 requires — given developers' need to show conceptual building forms to prospective retail tenants. Some commissioners said limited concept-level architectural renderings are common at this stage; others said the code requires clear architectural submissions and that applicants must follow the city's ordinance.

After extended discussion and a failed attempt to add conditions tied to department actions, the commission voted to grant the one-year extension without additional conditions. The roll call was: Farhad Shaw, yes; Warren Hartenstein, yes; Chip Place, no; Janice Chan, yes; Ed Girono, yes; Chair Volney Ford, no. Chair Ford read the result aloud and noted the extension carries the original approval's conditions forward for another year.

The commission also discussed internal housekeeping items earlier in the meeting: the proposed rules of procedure remained tabled while members await confirmation about whether alternate seats will be removed under recently updated ordinances. That matter will return for formal action once the city confirms the ordinance implementation.

Votes at a glance: The planning commission approved a one-year extension of the site plan approval for Harbor Shops MD 2 LLC (permit 20240340). Outcome: approved, vote 4–2 (Yes: Shaw, Hartenstein, Chan, Girono; No: Place, Chair Volney Ford). The extension preserves the original March 21, 2024 approval conditions and represents the first allowable one-year extension under section 155-25(c).