New restaurants in La Plata would have to install a 2,000-gallon outdoor grease interceptor under an ordinance introduced Oct. 13, but existing restaurants, including those downtown, would not have to change anything as long as their equipment works.
Ordinance 26-22 rewrites the town’s rules on fats, oils and grease, which can clog sewer lines and strain the town’s wastewater treatment plant. The council agreed by consensus to move it forward, and it was introduced for first reading later in the meeting.
What the ordinance does
Town Manager Chuck Stevens said the changes would:
- Set a 2,000-gallon minimum for exterior grease interceptors, located outside the building and accessible for inspection, unless the inspector approves another spot.
- Spell out which kitchen fixtures, such as sinks, dishwashers, floor drains and mop sinks, must drain to an interceptor.
- Let the town’s inspector order an existing interceptor upgraded or replaced if it is undersized, badly installed or not working.
- Require owners to give inspectors access for inspection and sampling.
The ordinance also drops the Maryland Department of Health as an approving authority, since the department doesn’t regulate interceptor size, and brings La Plata’s rules in line with Charles County’s, Stevens said. He expects minimal cost to the town.
Who it affects
The town’s inspections director, who said she has been with La Plata 15 years, told the council the town has 68 food service establishments, including hotels and school cafeterias, and checks their grease equipment every three months. The town recorded one grease backup in 2024, two in 2025 and three so far in 2026, she said. Business owners pay for repairs, typically $1,500 to $2,000 after a backup.
She said no existing business would be out of compliance. Downtown restaurants that have small grease traps under the sink, and no room for an outdoor interceptor, can keep replacing them in kind as long as they’re maintained. “New” means a brand-new food business, she said.
A debate over small businesses
Councilman Gregory Sampson said he supports the ordinance but warned that outdoor interceptors cost $8,000 to $20,000, a burden for small businesses, first-time entrepreneurs and immigrant-owned shops, and that landlords would pass the cost to tenants. He asked for the existing-business exemption to be written in and for a 12-month compliance period. Tenants in multi-tenant plazas can’t share one interceptor under the rule, the inspector said.
Councilman Paul Guttenberg opposed any exemptions. Grease reaching the treatment plant is one of its most significant costs, he said, and La Plata’s sewer customers are mostly residents. “If we delay, excuse, or make special categories,” he said, residential users “will bear the costs of that.”
Mayor Jeannine James thanked the inspections staff for work she said has been “years in the making.”
Playground coming out
Separately, Stevens told the council the town will remove the Patuxent Court playground. The equipment is unsafe, the playground offers limited community benefit, and the town has no legal access to the land, he said.
The town has maintained the playground, but the land belongs to Somerset Maple LLC, the neighborhood’s developer and last owner of record. The town sent the company a certified letter Aug. 3 and got no response, Stevens said. Removal is expected soon, and the site will come off the town’s park inventory. Stevens said he knows of no other playgrounds in the same situation moving toward removal.
