St. Mary’s County residents have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, to get written comments to the county commissioners on the draft St. Mary’s 2050 Comprehensive Plan. After that, the record closes, and the board is aiming to vote on final adoption a week later, on Oct. 20.
The plan would replace the county’s 2010 comprehensive plan and guide land use, growth, transportation and public facilities through 2050. It is the document zoning decisions are measured against, so what lands in it, or gets cut from it, shapes what can be built and where for a generation.
The timeline
- Aug. 18: The Department of Land Use and Growth Management briefed the commissioners on the draft.
- Sept. 15: Commissioners held a lengthy chapter-by-chapter work session, directed a final round of changes and voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing.
- Oct. 6: Public hearing at the Chesapeake Building in Leonardtown.
- Oct. 13, 5 p.m.: Deadline for written comments. According to the county’s hearing notice, the commissioners will consider written submissions for up to seven days after the hearing.
- Oct. 20 (target): Commissioners aim to vote on final adoption.
After the hearing, staff is to prepare a consolidated draft that folds in the Sept. 15 changes, four earlier rounds of revisions and any changes the commissioners make in response to public comment, according to the Chronicle’s coverage of the work session.
How to comment
- Email: csmc@stmaryscountymd.gov
- Mail: Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Mailed comments must arrive by the deadline.
- Read the draft: stmaryscountymd.gov/stmarys2050
- Questions about the plan: Land Use and Growth Management, 301-475-4200, ext. 1500, or StMarys2050@stmaryscountymd.gov
What’s in the draft now
The draft cuts the county’s land-use categories from 23 to nine, spread across 10 subject areas with 282 action items. Commissioners have said they want to check the plan’s assumptions every three years, sooner than the state’s five-year review cycle.
At the Sept. 15 work session, commissioners directed several changes. Among them:
- Striking the policy that protected the old railroad right-of-way for future light rail
- Adding a priority on single-family homeownership as a tool for “intergenerational wealth building”
- Adding a goal to make sure zoning covers “new and emerging industries” that don’t fit existing categories, with cannabis and data centers cited as examples
- Adding support for passenger ferry and water transit
- Removing a policy on fish and shellfish stocks, which commissioners said falls under state and federal authority
- Softening several commitments, such as changing “will develop” to “will consider developing,” and turning a proposed audit of older-neighborhood infrastructure into something to explore
Questions still open
The Chronicle’s review of the work session found the plan leaves several big questions unanswered heading into the vote. It is built on population projections the state has since lowered. It does not say whether sewer capacity, schools and the budget can carry the growth it allows. And it sets no measure of how many sheriff’s deputies the county will need.
Residents who want those issues addressed before adoption have until Tuesday afternoon to put it in writing.
