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Committee conditions sewer‑service recommendation on WSSC/MDE approval for Ridge Drive extension in Glen Hills
Summary
The committee conditionally supported a longer sewer extension along Ridge Drive to serve the Bagheri property and related parcels in Glen Hills, subject to WSSC hydraulic/engineering approval and MDE consistency review; the adjacent Lou request was recommended for denial unless the extension occurs, and staff will draft precise conditional language before full council review.
The Montgomery County Transportation and Environment Committee on June 23 reviewed two category‑change requests to the county’s Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewage Systems Plan for adjacent Ridge Drive parcels in the Glen Hills area and agreed to advance a conditional recommendation to the full council.
DEP staff explained the Bagheri request seeks public sewer service for a roughly one‑acre, R‑E‑1 property that sits just outside the county’s planned sewer service envelope. The county’s peripheral sewer service policy allows case‑by‑case consideration for parcels that abut the planned envelope. DEP described two service options: a short (~50‑foot) extension from a nearby low‑pressure main that would require a private easement across the applicant’s property, or a longer extension (about 1,600 feet) following public rights‑of‑way along Ridge Drive that would abut roughly a dozen additional properties and better align with policy goals. DEP and the planning board recommended approval for Bagheri, conditioned on WSSC Water confirming the longer extension is feasible.
DEP cautioned that these long extensions are expensive and that applicants typically bear the costs. "These are very expensive. The numbers that DEP has noted, range from about $700 to $900 a linear foot," DEP staff said. WSSC also assesses a front‑foot benefit charge to properties that connect, and that revenue estimate is used to reduce the applicant’s up‑front extension cost if WSSC builds the main.
The adjacent Lou property, across Ridge Drive, does not abut the planned sewer envelope and therefore lacks peripheral eligibility; DEP and planning recommended denial unless the Ridge‑Drive extension is approved and built, at which point Lou could qualify under the abutting‑mains policy. Several council members questioned whether it would be fair to deny Lou while conditionally approving Bagheri and debated whether both should receive conditional approvals tied to the same extension. Planning staff warned that poorly worded conditional approvals could allow piecemeal extensions that circumvent the sewer plan’s intent.
Committee members and DEP agreed to draft precise conditional language that would (a) tie any Bagheri approval to WSSC hydraulic/engineering confirmation and to MDE’s plan amendment review, (b) specify the trigger that would allow Lou to qualify (if any), and (c) include revocation language if WSSC does not approve or if the main is not built. The committee reached unanimous consent on the intent to advance the conditioned recommendation to the full council after staff finalizes the language; final approvals remain subject to WSSC and MDE review.
Next steps: DEP and county attorneys will draft the recommended conditional language for the committee report; the item will be scheduled for full council review and any final plan amendments require MDE approval.
