Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Priority Funding Area topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission finds North Beach Priority Funding Area certification consistent with county plan so MDE can seek sewer funds for failing septic system
Summary
The commission voted to find the proposed Priority Funding Area (PFA) certification for a North Beach area consistent with the Calvert County comprehensive plan, enabling the Maryland Department of the Environment to pursue state funds to connect a property with a failing septic system to public sewer.
The Calvert County Planning Commission voted to find a proposed Priority Funding Area (PFA) certification for a North Beach area consistent with the Calvert County comprehensive plan, a determination staff said is needed to allow the Maryland Department of the Environment to allocate funds to connect a property with a failing septic system to public sewer.
"The Calvert County Department of Health, Environmental Health Division recently approached the Maryland Department of the Environment regarding a failing septic system just outside of the North Beaches boundary at 36 93rd Street," said Kat Lockwood, Planner II, Long Range, explaining why the PFA certification request was before the commission.
Lockwood told commissioners the proposed PFA certification area contains 506 units within approximately 135 acres and is designated a growth area on the county's 2017 growth tier map and included in the 2010 and 2019 Calvert County comprehensive plans. She cited statutory requirements in Maryland code for PFA designation and consistency with the comprehensive plan.
Commissioners pressed staff about why certain small lots near Fifth Street and Madison Avenue and at the northern edge (Milwaukee and 10th Street) were excluded from the purple proposed PFA area on the map. "These areas are not designated for the PFA certification area because they are currently not categorized as S1 and W1 in the county's water and sewerage plan," said Tay Harris, Long Range Planner. He explained the excluded lots are categorized S3 and would require a water and sewer category change in the county plan through a 60-day public comment process and further action by the board of county commissioners before they could become PFA-eligible.
Harris added that certifying the requested PFA now would expedite addressing the identified failing septic system by allowing MDE to pursue state funding for a sewer connection, while category changes for other lots could be pursued on a separate timetable.
Jason Brinkley, Director of Planning and Zoning, noted some northern areas excluded from the proposed PFA appear to be flood- or marsh-affected land with no dwellings, which influenced mapping decisions.
A commissioner moved that the planning commission find the proposed PFA certification consistent with the Calvert County comprehensive plan; the motion was seconded and passed on voice vote. No public comment was recorded on the matter.
Staff said that changing the water and sewerage plan category for the excluded lots would require initiation by the planning commission, a 60-day comment period, a public hearing and subsequent board of county commissioners action, which would delay MDE funding for the currently identified failing septic system if the commission did not act on the present certification request.
