LA PLATA — Anyone on La Plata’s town water system has a chance tonight to tell the Town Council what they think of rules that could one day decide when they water the lawn, wash the car or fill the pool.
The council will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Town Hall, 305 Queen Anne St., on Zoning Text Amendment 03-2026, the town’s proposed water conservation ordinance, according to the town’s hearing notice.
Nothing in the proposal would restrict water use today. The measure would give the town manager authority to declare a “Water Conservation Alert” in a drought or when the system is running near its limit, and it spells out what residents and businesses could and could not do while an alert is in effect. It would also rewrite the town’s landscaping standards for new development to favor plants that need less water.
No adoption vote is scheduled tonight. The same council agenda lists the measure, Ordinance 26-23, for first reading and introduction only.
How to be heard
Speakers can sign up through the town’s Public Communications page until 3 p.m. today or on a sheet in the council chambers. Sign-up closes when the hearing opens, and people who registered in advance are called first. The presiding officer may limit each speaker to three minutes, and time cannot be yielded to someone else, the town’s hearing procedures say.
The deadline for written testimony to be entered into the record was noon Monday. The hearing can also be watched online. Once the hearing is closed, the council will not take further comments or questions on the ordinance during the meeting.
Residents have not weighed in so far. When the Planning Commission held its own hearing on Oct. 6, no one submitted written or spoken comments, according to the staff report prepared for the council. The commission then voted 5-0, with Vice Chair Hudnell absent, to recommend approval.
What an alert would mean at home
Under the Planning Commission’s Oct. 6 draft, the town manager could declare an alert when daily water production reaches 90% of permitted capacity for three straight days, or during a state-declared drought emergency. The town would have to give public notice when an alert starts and when it ends.
While an alert is in effect, the draft would:
- Put outdoor irrigation on an odd-even schedule by street address, and only between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.
- Prohibit watering grass, except new seed or sod for up to 30 days and athletic fields or golf courses with an approved conservation plan
- Bar sprinklers and automatic watering devices that use town water, with exceptions for farms, commercial nurseries with a conservation plan, and public gardens
- Prohibit washing driveways, sidewalks, patios and decks, and washing vehicles and boats at home
- Prohibit filling or refilling pools and hot tubs, while allowing the minimum topping-off needed to protect pumps
- Shut off decorative fountains that do not recirculate water, and ban misting machines
- Have restaurants serve tap water only when a customer asks
In a severe shortage, the town manager could temporarily prohibit all landscape irrigation. Water used for firefighting, public health and emergency operations would be exempt, and irrigation from rain barrels, graywater or other non-potable systems would not be restricted.
Businesses and big users
Commercial car washes could stay open during an alert but would have to cut potable water use by 10%. Those that recycle at least 70% of their wash water would be treated as already in compliance.
The draft also creates a category of “designated large-volume users”: non-residential or mixed-use properties averaging 10,000 gallons a day or more over three billing cycles, or using 300,000 gallons in a single cycle. The town manager could order them to cut use by at least 10% and would check meter and billing data. A user that misses the target would get a written notice and 30 days to submit a conservation plan.
Warnings first, then fines
A first observed violation would bring a written warning and 48 hours to fix the problem. After that, violations would be municipal infractions under the town code, with tiered fines and each day counted as a separate offense. The draft does not list dollar amounts; it points to the fine schedule in Section 186-22 of the code.
Anyone who believes the rules would cause “extraordinary hardship,” defined as permanent property damage or a loss far worse than what other users face, could apply to the town manager for an exemption and appeal a denial to the Board of Appeals within 10 days. No local exemption could override restrictions ordered by the Maryland Department of the Environment in a state drought emergency.
New landscaping rules for new projects
The second half of the amendment changes Section 191.48 of the zoning code, which governs landscaping. For new residential and commercial projects that need a site plan or plat, it would require native, drought-tolerant plants, limit high-water-use turf to areas used for recreation, require mulch and soil preparation, and require irrigation systems to have rain shut-off sensors and avoid spraying onto pavement. Those standards would apply all the time, not just during an alert, but to new development and replacement landscaping rather than existing yards.
How the town got here
The council asked for a conservation ordinance on April 28 as a companion to the town’s recently adopted adequate public facilities ordinance for water, the staff report says. The Planning Commission worked on it from June 2 through Oct. 6. The Chronicle detailed the commission’s version of the alert rules after that vote.
Staff, led by Town Manager Chuck Stevens and Planning Director Don Dooley, tie the measure to La Plata’s water allocation from the Maryland Department of the Environment. The report says conservation helps the town stay within that limit, particularly in droughts, and reduces the need to secure additional water. It lists no direct cost to the town’s operating budget and no new staff or equipment.
The commission also asked the council to consider a public education and outreach effort alongside the ordinance. One council member submitted written feedback on both sections on Sept. 1, which is included in tonight’s packet with the state’s Level One water-use restriction sheet.
Staff recommends that the council adopt the amendment as the Planning Commission proposed it. Because tonight is the introduction, that decision would come at a later meeting, and the council could still change the text before then. It is the second zoning rewrite moving through Town Hall this fall; a forest conservation update goes to its own hearing Dec. 1.
Questions about the hearing can be sent to Kelly Phipps, the town’s director of legislative services, at legislative@townoflaplata.org or 301-934-8421.
