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Planning commission hears Dunkirk Town Center draft updates, asks staff for more data and keeps record open
Summary
County planners presented draft revisions to Dunkirk Town Center chapters addressing maps, housing-affordability, EV charging, stormwater and transit. Public commenters raised traffic and park inclusion concerns; the commission directed staff to provide requested research and left the record open until the next meeting.
The Calvert County Planning Commission held a public hearing on draft chapters 1 and 3 of the Dunkirk Town Center Master Plan and directed staff to return with additional research before the commission's next meeting.
Tay Harris, the county's long-range planner, summarized changes incorporated after a 60-day comment period: updated town-center maps and census-designated-place descriptions, a revised housing-affordability assessment, affirmatively furthering fair housing considerations, updated homeless counts, recommendations for electric-vehicle charging hookups in new single-family construction, broadband status updates, and smart-technology safety recommendations for roads. Revisions to Chapter 3 included updated impervious-surface and riparian-buffer percentages and suggestions to coordinate with the Maryland Transit Administration for commuter bus service to Annapolis, New Carrollton, College Park and Greenbelt.
Harris said proposed boundary realignments would add the Dunkirk District Park and the Dunkirk park-and-ride to the town-center area; she emphasized that adding these civic properties to the boundary does not transfer ownership. "The park and ride is actually state owned," she said, and staff said inclusion in the town-center boundary is intended to recognize civic uses and could help leverage certain grant programs.
Two members of the public spoke. John Kaiser asked what benefit including the park and park-and-ride would provide and whether expansion would increase impervious surfaces or development potential. Sarah Rothis opposed a proposal to make a local movement right-turn only, saying she "find[s] it very safe" and worried the change would increase congestion at nearby intersections; she urged constructing Shops Way to reduce Route 4 traffic.
Bob Brandon, director of Parks and Recreation, explained Program Open Space restrictions tied to some park purchases: funds used to buy park land can carry conditions that require the county to maintain and enhance facilities and can limit clearing or development; changing a property's use could require returning acquisition funds to the state.
After questions from commissioners about park ownership, parking capacity at the park-and-ride, and traffic-safety recommendations from the State Highway Administration, a commissioner moved that staff prepare the additional research and information requested during testimony and provide it prior to the next Planning Commission meeting and that the record remain open until that meeting. The motion carried on an affirmative voice vote.
