Calvert planners revise Prince Frederick master plan draft and set public hearing

Tay Harris, long range planner for the Department of Planning and Zoning, presented revisions to the Prince Frederick Town Center Master Plan that staff compiled into a December 2024 draft and asked the Planning Commission for direction on whether to proceed to a public hearing.

Harris told commissioners the updated draft shifts the plan emphasis from "incentivizing growth" toward "managing growth" after staff documented more than 800 apartments and townhouses in the local development pipeline. Key revisions in the draft include reducing recommended residential density in much of the town center from 7 units per acre to 4 units per acre and a requirement of five transferable development rights (TDRs) for each additional unit regardless of unit type. Harris also said the draft recommends allowing the recreational excise tax to fund expanded activities such as trails and bikeways and focuses redevelopment efforts along Armory Road, Main Street and Prince Frederick Boulevard. The draft proposes applying natural resource protection provisions to stream valleys in the Parkers Creek headwaters to expand buffers for streams, floodplains and other sensitive lands.

Commissioners asked for numbers and implementation details. A commissioner noted the large development pipeline and asked whether the town center could absorb units under the new rules; Harris said more than 800 units are currently in the pipeline and that some are approved, under review or under construction. Mary Beth Cook, director of planning and zoning, told the commission: "It's about 6,500 TDRs for which they are locked into the program and have sold at least 1 TDR." Cook added there are "more like 8 to 9,000 out there for existing land that's in the preservation program" that may not yet be sold or certified. She said the county's land preservation budget is about $11,000,000 and that the county's current buy price for TDRs is $6,500 with a reserve program that allows developers to buy TDRs from the county at the same price.

A commissioner who reviewed the staff's track-changes draft raised editorial and content concerns, asking staff to clarify the interim versus permanent Harriet Brown community center naming, reinsert an Important Bird Area reference for Parkers Creek that staff had removed, and correct courthouse-history wording introduced in track changes. Harris acknowledged those items and said staff would restore or correct the language.

After discussion, a commissioner moved, seconded and the Planning Commission voted in favor of directing staff to schedule a public hearing on the December 2024 master plan draft; staff noted that due to legal notice requirements the earliest feasible hearing date would be the commission's February meeting. The commission provided no additional formal amendments at the meeting; staff requested feedback and direction to proceed to the public hearing process.

The Planning Commission is expected to publish the public hearing notice and receive formal public comments ahead of the February meeting. Members of the public who want to submit written comments on the zoning ordinance update or master plan were reminded of the upcoming deadlines and the special meeting announced by staff.