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Caroline County holds second readings on three zoning bills; board grants 7-day extension for map-corrections comment
Summary
At its March 10 meeting the Caroline County Commissioners held second readings and public hearings for three zoning bills — zoning map corrections, permitting mini-storage in the Village Center district and creating an R-3 multifamily district — and unanimously approved a 7-day extension of public comment on the zoning map corrections bill after a public request to submit historical evidence.
The Caroline County Commissioners opened legislative session March 10 for second readings and public hearings on three zoning bills, then voted to extend the comment period for one of them.
Mr. Barrell read notices for legislative bills 2026-001 (an administrative procedure allowing the planning director to correct minor clerical or technical errors on county zoning maps), 2026-002 (to add warehouse/mini-storage as a special-use-permitted use in the Village Center zoning district) and 2026-003 (to create an R-3 multiple-family residential district and add townhouse supplementary regulations). The notices said each public hearing had been advertised in the Star Democrat and gave instructions for submitting written comments to the county.
The board opened each public hearing in Room 106 of the Caroline County Courthouse but no one registered to speak in person for any of the three items. After Mr. Barrell reported an email this morning from a member of the public asking either for a postponement or an extension of the comment period to allow submission of "critical historical evidence" related to mapping of Choptank Indian purchased lands, President Breeding moved and Commissioner Porter seconded a motion to extend the public comment period for legislative bill 2026-001 by seven days. The board voted aye; the extension was approved.
Barrell said the three bills will return to the board next Tuesday for third reading and potential enactment; if enacted then, Barrell told the board, they would have an effective date of May 2.
The first bill (2026-001) would add an administrative correction procedure aimed at allowing the planning director to correct minor technical or clerical mapping errors without a separate ordinance; the second (2026-002) would allow mini-storage/warehouse uses in the Village Center by special-use exception and add criteria for consideration by the Board of Zoning Appeals; the third (2026-003) would restore regulations allowing townhomes in an R-3 district, add definitions and design rules, and revise several table attachments in chapter 175 of the county code.
No public testimony was taken on any of the bills at this meeting; the board’s action Wednesday was procedural: to accept the advertised hearings and to give additional time for written comment on the map-corrections bill before the next reading. The county provided a written-submission address in the public notices and staff said any comments received will be forwarded to the board ahead of next week’s meeting.
The board scheduled the third readings for next Tuesday, when it may vote to amend or enact the ordinances. If enacted next Tuesday, Mr. Barrell said, the ordinances would take effect May 2.
