Hagerstown council keeps record open on Lorich Tract rezoning request

The Hagerstown mayor and city council opened a public hearing Oct. 28 on a zoning map amendment (case ZM2025021912) for property commonly addressed as 1912 Day Road. Steven Bachmiller, deputy director for planning and zoning administration, told the council the site is currently divided between Commercial General (CG) and Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU) zoning and that the applicant proposes relocating the dividing line so more of the tract would be NMU.

Bachmiller said the rezoning area covers about 22 acres, of which roughly 7.3 acres are floodplain; he estimated the developable area at about 14 acres. He explained that Maryland law requires a piecemeal rezoning applicant to show either a change in the character of the neighborhood since the last comprehensive plan or a mistake in the original zoning. He said the applicant is advancing a "mistake" argument rather than claiming a change in neighborhood character; the staff packet and the comprehensive plan were entered into the record.

Jason Deibelbiss, land use counsel for Kirwood DH LLC (the contract purchaser), argued the existing zoning line was an arbitrary remnant of the 1978 annexation and that subsequent development patterns and the foreseeable extension of Paul Smith Boulevard support relocating the commercial boundary nearer Dual Highway. Deibelbiss said the request would not change the property’s two base classifications — the property would remain split between CG and NMU — but would increase NMU acreage from roughly 74 to about 87 acres and reduce CG from about 19 acres to about 5 acres. He also noted an effectiveness condition: any approved rezoning would not take effect unless the property transfers to the applicant (or a third‑party buyer) by an outside date in 2027.

Deibelbiss told the council the planning commission held a public review meeting in August and unanimously recommended approval. Several neighbors attended the planning commission meeting and expressed a desire that the larger 93‑acre parcel remain in agricultural use, Bachmiller said; at the council hearing the public comments focused on process and property history rather than new technical evidence on the zoning test.

After presentations and brief public comment, the council voted to keep the record open for 10 days to permit supplemental filings; staff will return to the council with next steps once the record closes.

Provenance: Staff presentation and legal standard (Steven Bachmiller), 00:11:32–00:17:39; Applicant presentation (Jason Deibelbiss), 00:19:07–00:26:44; council motion to keep record open, 00:28:43.