La Plata keeps Adequate Public Facilities ordinance open for more public input

The La Plata Planning Commission voted to keep the public hearing open on a proposed Adequate Public Facilities zoning text amendment, ZTA 01 20 26, so staff can incorporate written feedback and return redlined language at the commission's March 3, 2026 meeting.

Director Dooley and Town Manager Chuck Stevens presented the draft changes and said staff learned at the Jan. 6 session that stakeholders wanted clearer methods and reporting. Staff recommended adding a formula for calculating the town's 80% water and sewer capacity metric, instituting reporting requirements for water and sewer capacity (conceptually every six months), aligning expiration dates for water/sewer and school seating allocations, and encouraging design-based mitigation measures in new developments.

The commission invited two representatives from Charles County Public Schools—Steve Andritz, director of planning and construction, and Mike Heim, chief of operations—to explain how school-seat allocations and capacity triggers work. Andritz described the draft 6% town allocation as "a starting point" and tied the percentage to the town's share of county population: "The 6% is obviously tied to the population related to the town versus the population of the county." He and Heim stressed that the county uses school-level safeguards—annual enrollment counts, a 110% state-rated capacity threshold, moratoria and redistricting—to manage when allocations stop or when new capacity is needed.

Andritz and Heim told the commission that the school system typically counts planned capital improvements when they fall within an 18-month window, which can prevent an allocation freeze if a project is already on the county's CIP. Andritz also clarified that charter schools are accounted for as public schools but that private schools are not included in the allocation calculations.

Councilman Guttenberg and other commissioners pressed staff and the school representatives on whether the 6% figure meaningfully constrains growth in La Plata or instead duplicates county-level safeguards for specific feeder schools. Town staff said the number is a defensible starting point but pledged to analyze comments, include written feedback submitted to the record, and present redlined changes in March.

After discussion, the commission voted to continue the public hearing to March 3, 2026, to allow more time for public comment and for staff to prepare draft amendments that reflect the commission's and the public's input.

Next steps: staff will compile written comments received, propose language changes and redlines for the March packet, and the commission will reconvene the public hearing on ZTA 01 20 26 on March 3, 2026.