Commissioners debate splitting Lexington Park Development District; Navy airspace and existing grants complicate options

Members of the Planning Commission spent a large portion of the Jan. 17 work session examining calls from residents to divide the Lexington Park Development District (LPDD) into subareas.

"Lexington Park is gonna be more geared towards redevelopment, and we need to have incentives to encourage developers to go down there," said Cindy Greb, director of the county’s Department of Economic Development, describing constraints near Patuxent River Naval Base such as noise contours and existing development. She contrasted that with Northern Lexington Park, which she said "has a lot more flexibility with a lot more land," potentially supporting more diverse opportunities.

Jessica Andritz, director of Land Use and Growth Management, said the idea to split the LPDD "came primarily from a group of citizens" who perceived differing local identities and needs. She cautioned that the county has grant funding tied to the Lexington Park Development District master plan and that altering the district without care could jeopardize grant-funded implementation work.

Commissioners and staff discussed two practical options: (1) retain LPDD as a single shaded district on the county land-use map and use the Lexington Park master plan to describe detailed mixed-use categories, or (2) create distinct subdistricts (Northern and Southern Lexington Park) with different permitted uses and incentives. Courtney Jenkins, a deputy director, said the revised land-use map will shade the LPDD and direct users to the LPDD master plan for the specific land-use mix.

Several commissioners flagged inconsistent labels and duplicate entries for mixed-use intensity categories in the plan packet ("mixed use moderate" vs. "mixed use medium"), and staff agreed to work with the consultant to clean up the table and provide an LPDD-specific supplemental table.

Andritz also noted the plan includes explicit references to upcoming Navy AQ (air-quality/airspace/noise) work and an action to coordinate a new joint land use study (JLUSA) with the base if the Navy issues changes. "There are two action items: updating the land use map with the new AQ's information... and coordinating with the base on the development of a new JLUSA," she said.

Next steps: staff will meet with the consultant to resolve map labeling, produce a pull-out table for LPDD uses, and evaluate whether subdistricting or zoning tools and incentives can address residents’ concerns without disrupting grant-funded implementation.