Chesapeake Beach council coalesces on one-space ADU parking rule ahead of October state deadline

Sarah, the staff presenter, opened the discussion by saying the town must update its ADU rules to meet new Maryland requirements and that staff had assembled the draft ordinance for council review. “So we've been working on updating your ADU legislation to meet the new state law,” she said.

Councilors spent the bulk of the session probing specific provisions: owner-occupancy requirements, the state-mandated 75% size cap relative to the primary dwelling, ingress/egress and how ADUs should be measured. The largest practical debate centered on parking — the draft required two off-street spaces for ADUs, separate from the primary dwelling’s spaces, citing safety and emergency-access concerns.

Several councilors raised enforcement and impervious-surface impacts. One council member warned about a “cascading effect” if many ADUs add on-street parking and said the town lacks a complete stormwater assessment. Staff noted waivers exist in the draft for narrow streets, transit proximity, and municipal parking but said waivers complicate enforcement.

After extended discussion, multiple council members signaled support for changing the base parking requirement from two spaces to one. Staff and members agreed to keep waiver language available for special circumstances but to present a version of the ordinance that sets one required ADU parking space and then refine waiver details with planning staff before introduction. The council directed staff to prepare the ordinance for introduction at the next regular meeting; formal adoption would occur later.