Commissioners press staff on Prince Frederick Town Center draft after staff cites 815-unit pipeline

Planning staff presented draft Chapters 1 and 2 of the Prince Frederick Town Center Master Plan update on March 19 and identified a housing pipeline they said totals 815 dwelling units—339 townhomes and 476 apartments—representing a 67% increase in residential units when measured against currently unspecified baseline housing figures.

Commissioners pressed staff to clarify the arithmetic behind the 67% figure and asked for the existing number of dwelling units used as the baseline. "So the 816, that is the rep that's 67%...working backwards, I don't know what the total," a planner said and agreed to verify the existing-unit counts. Commissioners also raised traffic and infrastructure concerns tied to the projected growth: staff noted some planned state road projects are on hold due to funding and environmental constraints, and that the zoning update reduces maximum density (to four units per acre) and increases TDR purchase requirements, which staff said should slow future growth compared with earlier policy settings.

The discussion ranged from interpretation of watershed impervious-surface figures to requests for more current data on failing intersections and pedestrian crossing feasibility. Staff agreed to return with clarified numbers (existing dwelling counts, updated pipeline breakdowns and local contribution to watershed impervious-surface changes) and to mark the draft where figures originate so the commission and public can review whether the town-center plan should be scheduled for a public hearing in May.