Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Planning commission defers Westside On Main subdivision pending traffic study
Loading...
Summary
The Calvert County Planning Commission deferred action on the Westside On Main preliminary subdivision (24 townhomes, two commercial lots) and requested the completed traffic impact study and full agency review before further consideration; the motion carried 6–1.
The Calvert County Planning Commission voted to defer final action on the Westside On Main preliminary subdivision plan until a current traffic impact study and all agency review comments are submitted to the commission.
Principal planner Christine Fenimore presented the conceptual site plan and preliminary subdivision (CSPR 143260 / SD 143478) for the Prince Frederick Old Town subarea, describing a mixed-use infill proposal on roughly 3.9 acres that would include 24 residential townhome units, two commercial lots (one retaining an existing structure), internal sidewalks, and 1.2 acres of required community open space, including a 5,000-square-foot multiuse field. “Staff recommends approval of conceptual site plan 143260 and subdivision plan 143478, subject to the conditions found in the staff report,” Fenimore said in the commission packet presentation.
Commissioners pressed staff about when the Planning Commission would be able to review traffic and APFO (Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance) compliance. Fenimore said APFO certification occurs at the final plat and final site plan stage and that traffic review is completed by the Department of Public Works in coordination with the State Highway Administration. County counsel John Mattingly advised the body that the commission retains authority to refuse approval up to final certification if issues cannot be resolved.
Applicant counsel David Weigel, representing Dugan, McKissick and Longmore, said the application met current checklist requirements and that DPW had deferred the traffic study until final site plan. “At this time, all that was required and is required under the site development plan checklist … is the traffic impact analysis requirements form that was submitted,” Weigel told the commission.
Still, several commissioners said they could not make a full APFO or traffic finding without the completed study. One commissioner moved to defer action until a traffic study could be provided and reviewed; the motion passed 6–1, with the chair recording the lone nay. The commission also made a separate, consequential motion to defer agenda item 8a (the preliminary subdivision plan) until the traffic study and all agency comments, including the Board of Appeals order on buffer variances, were available.
Next steps: staff will provide the commission the finalized traffic impact study and agency review comments when available. The commission may then revisit the preliminary subdivision and the related site development approvals at a future meeting, or exercise its authority up through the final plat certification step.
Votes at a glance: the deferral motions on the Westside On Main items passed by voice votes with recorded tallies of 6–1; the initial request that the completed traffic study be submitted to the commission passed by voice vote earlier in the discussion.
