Planning commission reviews role on covenant amendments and opts to keep current process

Stephanie Jones, long-range principal planner, briefed the Queen Anne's County Planning Commission on the county's role in reviewing and approving amendments to covenants, citing county code provisions governing when and how those amendments are presented to the commission.

Jones told the commission that county code (chapter 18, '181-204 and '181-205) requires the planning commission to find that the applicable code provisions have been fulfilled and that proposed amendments "may not be amended or changed in any manner without prior written approval of the planning commission or other agency or person duly authorized by the county to approve the change or amendment." She outlined four options for handling covenants going forward: (1) continue current practice and bring amendments before the commission only when they arrive; (2) leave the code as written but provide original covenants to the commission at the time of initial submission; (3) leave the code and designate another authorized person (such as the planning director) to approve amendments; or (4) pursue a comprehensive code update to change how the process is applied.

Commission discussion focused on whether to designate an authorized person or retain the status quo. Commissioners said they prefer solving administrative matters at the lowest appropriate level and indicated comfort with the planning director having authority to approve minor amendments while the commission retains oversight for matters that warrant it. One commissioner asked whether the county had ever been sued for the current practice; staff said they were not aware of any such litigation and noted the principal complaint is timing due to agenda scheduling.

There was no vote on a code change at the meeting. A motion to adjourn was made and seconded and the meeting was declared closed.