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Planning commission finds Prince Frederick town-center chapters consistent, recommends adoption to county commissioners
Summary
After public hearing discussion about traffic-level-of-service and map edits, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to close the record on the Town Centers public hearing, find draft Chapter 1 and draft Chapter 2 (Prince Frederick) consistent with the comprehensive plan, and recommend adoption by the Board of County Commissioners.
The Calvert County Planning Commission voted unanimously on July 16 to close the public record on the Town Centers update public hearing and to find draft Chapter 1 (Town Centers) and draft Chapter 2 (Prince Frederick Town Center) consistent with the Calvert County Comprehensive Plan.
Tay Harris, a long-range planner, summarized the public engagement and revision process: draft chapters were revised after public comments, a work session on traffic was held June 18, and staff posted revised materials to the county’s Town Center Master Plan web pages. Harris said the department will mail postcards and post an online survey (mid-July to mid-August) to solicit resident and business input on proposed town-center updates for Owings, Huntingtown and Saint Leonard.
Several commissioners raised transportation concerns. One commissioner criticized a recent Public Works traffic presentation and said signal coordination along the MD 4/Tractors Boulevard corridor appears deficient in the field. "There was a lot of holes in his presentation," the commissioner said, pointing to observed problems at morning peak signals and urging further technical review.
Staff identified signalized intersections along MD 24 (including Cherry Oldfield Lane, MD 231, MD 402, Fox Run Boulevard and Hospital Drive) as critical to Prince Frederick town-center function; projects affecting those intersections must demonstrate acceptable mitigation to the Department of Public Works or State Highway Administration.
After discussion, a committee member moved to close the record, find the draft chapters consistent and recommend adoption by the Board of County Commissioners; the motion received a second and passed unanimously.
Staff said the Department of Planning and Zoning will return with findings to the commission — likely in September — and that a joint public hearing with the Board of County Commissioners is tentatively scheduled for August 20.
The vote advances the draft town center chapters toward formal county adoption while leaving technical traffic and mitigation questions to be resolved in later steps of the adoption process.
