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Board amends subdivision ordinance to expand "immediate family" for family divisions
Summary
The Caroline County Board adopted SO-01-2025, amending the Subdivision Ordinance to add aunts and uncles to the "immediate family" definition for family divisions and to codify holding periods, minimum lot sizes, and other limits on family-division parcels.
Director of Planning and Community Development Leon Hughes summarized proposed amendments to the Caroline County Subdivision Ordinance (SO-01-2025). The changes center on the definition of "Immediate Family" for family subdivisions and on procedural and lot-size regulations.
The Board agreed to amend the draft to include aunts and uncles (but not nieces and nephews) in the immediate-family definition. The ordinance as adopted sets a five-year ownership period before a property owner may create a family division and a 10-year holding period for grantees. Parcels created via a family division may not be further divided. Minimum lot sizes were set to meet district requirements (10 acres in RP and 25 acres in the Resource Sensitive Overlay), and revised access-drive requirements were added under a new Section 8 — Exempt Divisions.
Supervisor Floyd W. Thomas moved to adopt SO-01-2025 with the aunts-and-uncles amendment; Supervisor Nancy L. Long seconded. Vote: Ayes — Unanimous; Motion carried.
The amendment narrows family-division eligibility by adding ownership and holding-period requirements intended to limit speculative subdivisions while preserving an inheritance/transfer path for close relatives.
