LA PLATA — A rule change that would give the long-stalled Falcon Ridge subdivision near Newburg a new path to permanent approval ran into resistance Monday night. The Charles County Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the amendment as written unless its retroactive start date is removed and measurable accountability is added.
The recommendation on Subdivision Regulations Amendment SRA 26-01 now goes to the Charles County Commissioners, who have the final say. Chair Kevin Wedding reminded members before the vote that whatever the commission decided, the county commissioners would take up the process again.
At stake is how a developer locks in, or vests, an approved preliminary subdivision plan so it no longer needs extensions. For residents near projects that have sat for years, the question is whether old approvals can keep carrying weight under rules written decades ago.
Three ways to vest instead of one
Under current county rules, a preliminary plan is good for four years and can be extended twice, four years at a time. A plan vests once at least 25% of its lots are recorded and substantial physical improvements, such as roads or stormwater facilities, cover at least 25% of the project.
The revised amendment, proposed by national home builder K. Hovnanian Homes, keeps that test and adds two more. A project could vest by recording at least 50% of its lots, or by completing at least 50% of its physical improvements, with either one alone being enough. The timeframes stay the same.
Tony Feltz, assistant chief of planning, said staff supports the revised version because it keeps the intent of the existing rules while giving flexibility to projects that show substantial progress. Under questioning from Commissioner Denard Earl, Feltz confirmed that a project finishing half its improvements would not need to record a single lot to vest. He said developers can spend millions of dollars getting a site ready before any lot is recorded.
Monday’s session was the amendment’s second public hearing. The commission held the first Aug. 3 and a work session Oct. 5, when staff and the applicant agreed to add the two 50% options after staff had initially recommended denial.
The date that decides Falcon Ridge
The sticking point is Section 2, which would apply the change to any project with a valid preliminary plan on Jan. 1, 2026. Asked how many projects that reaches, Feltz said the retroactive piece would affect one: Falcon Ridge. The planning commission denied the project’s last extension this spring, and that decision is under appeal before the Charles County Board of Appeals, with a hearing expected in January 2027, according to applicant attorney Steve Scott.
Scott, of Scott Law Group in La Plata, did not dodge the question when a commissioner asked how the date was chosen. “It’s results oriented. Of course it is,” he said, adding that the builder has a significant interest in a particular project and the date helps it realize that investment. Aaron Lawrence, a K. Hovnanian manager from the company’s Mid-Atlantic office in Herndon, Va., agreed under Scott’s questioning that Falcon Ridge was one reason for the request.
Asked whether the builder would still back the change if the January date were replaced with a standard 45-day effective date, Scott said the home building industry would still favor it, though it would not resolve the issue his client cared about.
Commissioner Jeffrey Bossert said that because the project’s appeal is already scheduled, approving the retroactive language would effectively make that appeal moot.
The builder’s case
Lawrence, a Virginia professional engineer with 27 years in the industry, said vesting is one of the most important thresholds investors and land banks weigh. “One of the most intimidating things would be to lose vesting,” he said. He said stormwater review in Charles can stretch two years or more, compared with six to eight months in Fairfax County, and that delays push carrying costs onto home buyers.
Scott argued that county zoning and septic tier maps already steer growth into development districts such as Waldorf and St. Charles, leaving few new opportunities, and that a rise in Section 104 waiver requests shows how hard projects have become. Bossert countered that stormwater rules are statewide and apply to builders in every county.
Neighbors push back
Four residents spoke during the hearing, and all opposed the amendment. In a statement read by her granddaughter, Ellen Klein, whose Indian Head property borders the Falcon Ridge site, said the preliminary plan for 184 lots was approved in February 1999 and still has not met the required threshold after more than 27 years and multiple extensions. She said the county cannot plan roads, schools and utilities when approvals can sit unfinished indefinitely.
Kristin Klein, also of Indian Head, questioned what public interest the change serves and said moving it forward before the appeal is heard raises fairness concerns. Howard Dent of Newburg said the plan had been voided twice, most recently after the commission denied an extension March 23, and called it “the thing that wouldn’t die.” He asked members to vote no or at least strip the retroactive date.
Nancy Schurler of Newburg said the amendment gives staff no codified way to measure physical improvements and deletes the phrase “which have commenced construction,” the language she said makes the current requirement concrete. She said Falcon Ridge is the only plan that expired between Jan. 1 and now, and asked that the record stay open 30 days.
Who checks the numbers
Commissioner Samaya Hackett asked how the county would verify a 50% claim and whether the results would be public. Feltz said a developer would file a zoning officer’s determination request with detailed backup, staff would review it, and the resulting determination could be appealed by the public to the Board of Appeals. Hackett said more accountability needs to be spelled out in the text.
Bossert then made the motion. He noted the current rules contemplate a plan running about 12 years, while Falcon Ridge has been on the books for nearly 30. “I don’t see really any accountability to the way the bill is written,” he said. His motion recommends denial unless the retroactive section is removed and measurable progress standards are added so the commission and the public can track it.
Hackett seconded, and the motion carried on a voice vote with no opposition heard. Commissioner Britt Toku was absent, and the seven-member commission has one vacancy. The amendment now heads to the Board of County Commissioners, while the Falcon Ridge appeal remains on the Board of Appeals calendar. The full meeting is available on the county’s video archive.
