Planning director reports steady development, flags Chesapeake Bay Act shoreline rule changes
Summary
Planning director Mark Kretz told the board the county saw about 97 single-family housing starts in 2024, a rise from prior years, and warned the board that new DEQ-reviewed changes to Chesapeake Bay Act shoreline rules will require local code updates.
Planning director Mark Kretz presented the board's annual planning report Feb. 3, saying overall development activity was in line with recent years and noting a spike to 97 single-family housing starts in 2024 related to a subdivision near the golf course.
'You can see in 2024, we had 97,' Kretz said while reviewing the report, adding that the figure was partly a one-year anomaly tied to a specific subdivision. He told supervisors that administrative variances, wetlands applications and ordinance amendments have fluctuated year to year but overall activity was steady. Kretz also flagged upcoming local code changes tied to the Chesapeake Bay Act, saying staff had sent a draft ordinance to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for initial review and would return with a fuller report this year on shoreline design standards.
Supervisors asked clarifying questions about Certificate of Occupancy timing and whether Bay Act changes would affect local permitting; Kretz said some new shoreline design requirements could make nearshore projects more challenging and that the county would prepare code updates once DEQ completes its review.
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