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Planning panel recommends water allocations while members and public urge measurement review
Summary
After a public hearing in Mount Airy, the Planning Commission voted to recommend allocating the council‑approved 19,272 gallons-per-day water yield across 13 code categories while several speakers and two commissioners urged the town to revisit its use of point‑of‑entry meters versus well production data per Maryland Department of the Environment guidance.
The Mount Airy Planning Commission recommended that the town council adopt the staff-proposed division of the council‑approved 19,272 gallons‑per‑day available water capacity for 2026–2027 but added a direction that any new water appropriation granted during that period be placed into category 11, a reserve.
The vote followed a required public hearing at which resident Steven Demotor said he had obtained written guidance from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) cautioning that using point‑of‑entry (POE) flow meters can understate actual source withdrawals. "MDE states that using point of entry flow data underestimates the actual water withdrawals," Demotor told commissioners, and he said applying well production figures instead of POE would reduce the town's available yield from 19,272 gpd to roughly 9,668 gpd. Dick Swanson, chair of the Water and Sewer Commission, told the panel he concurred and urged the town to review its basis for the calculation.
Town engineering staff and the town attorney urged a different procedural path. The town engineer explained the historic rationale for using POE meters (including prior MDE approval under a consent agreement) and said the discrepancy in practice stems mainly from one pumping station with backwash losses. He told the commission the POE-to-well‑meter delta is small in absolute terms and that the council had already approved the 19,272 gpd figure; staff recommended using that number now to avoid missing statutory timeframes while reserving any future MDE‑approved additional appropriation.
The commission debated options including postponing allocations, placing all capacity in a moratorium, or recommending the council revisit the number. The town attorney advised the commission that the council may accept, reject, or modify the commission's recommendation and that, if the council changes the total yield, the allocation exercise would have to be repeated under the revised total. Commissioners noted the code requires allocation action by the council in April; several members sided with moving forward on the council-approved number to meet the timeline, with the understanding that council could alter the total later.
A motion to recommend approval of draft resolution 2026‑4 (the allocation resolution) as written — with the added clause that any new water appropriation in 2026–2027 be placed in category 11 (reserve) — passed, with one commissioner recorded as voting nay.
What happens next: The commission's recommendation and the staff report (which includes the full 13‑category breakdown totaling 19,272 gpd) will be forwarded to the town council. If the council later accepts new MDE data or changes the total capacity, it may modify allocations or return the matter to the commission for reconsideration. The commission asked staff to include MDE correspondence in the public record at the council level if the documents are provided.
Why it matters: The technical choice of meter data (POE vs well production) changes how much water the town reports as available for new development and repurposing of existing uses. That number affects approvals for rezonings, building conversions, and business changes; any change in methodology or total available yield could alter which projects can proceed without additional council action.
