Chesapeake Beach planning commission approves Critical Area Commission letter, forwards annual report to council

The Chesapeake Beach Planning and Zoning Commission on May 28 approved sending a letter from the Maryland Critical Area Commission and a related resolution to the Town Council and amended and approved its annual report to the Maryland Department of Planning.

Planning staff reported that after the commission and council adopted the town's critical area overlay, the state enacted new requirements that must be added to the town's ordinance. Planner Sarah Franklin told commissioners the additional language supplied by the Critical Area Commission largely addresses resiliency, climate change and equity related to growth allocations. Franklin said the changes are broadly standard language the state now requires and are not specific penalties or discretionary items unique to Chesapeake Beach.

The commission debated growth allocation calculations used in the draft and staff's corrections after a Critical Area Commission staff review. Franklin said Critical Area staff recalculated the town's remaining growth allocation and corrected an earlier error; the corrected text notes the town's remaining growth allocation is 68.37 acres as of the adoption date of the ordinance. Commissioners asked for clarification of the numbers; Franklin said the correction resulted in more, not less, allocation remaining and came from the Critical Area Commission's recalculation of earlier submissions.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve the Critical Area Commission letter and resolution and to transmit both to the Town Council; another commissioner seconded the motion. The motion passed on a voice vote with all commissioners present voting aye.

Separately, the commission reviewed its annual report to the Maryland Department of Planning, which summarizes recent housing units, progress on the comprehensive plan and planning needs. Franklin said she included coastal resiliency and climate-change study implementation as topics for which the commission might seek assistance from the state. Commissioners agreed to amend the annual report to mark the box identifying the town's sensitive area status as "yes" for internal consistency and then voted to amend and approve the report for transmittal to the Town Council.

The commission did not take any further formal actions on the substance of the critical area ordinance language at the meeting; staff was authorized to transmit the commission's letter and resolution and to forward the amended annual report to council for its consideration.