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St. Leonard Town Center
UPDATING OF THE
ST LEONARD TOWN CENTER ZONING ORDINANCE
Important Notice: St. Leonard Town Center Joint Work Session Postponed - At staff's request, the Board of County Commissioners has agreed to postpone the August 3rd Joint Work Session on the St. Leonard Master Plan & Zoning Ordinance to give the Planning Commission an opportunity to review and discuss the correspondence that has been submitted.
July 19, 2010 - Staff held a Public Forum on the Update of the St. Leonard Town Center Zoning Ordinance. The St. Leonard Town Center Master Plan was reviewed as well. Please use the links below to view the slideshows presented:
REVISED Schedule: The schedule for updating the St. Leonard Zoning Ordinance was revised effective June 28, 2010. See text in red below for important changes.
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Form-Based Code
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St. Leonard is a quaint Southern Maryland town with historic homes and businesses that have been around for generations. The Master Plan says:
“The St. Leonard Town Center serves as a center of commerce and a gathering place for the residential and rural communities surrounding the town.”
How can zoning reinforce the commercial potential of the town, support the existing businesses, and encourage local residents to utilize the town as a gathering place?
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In developing the Form-Based Code for Sub-area C, our goal was to recognize the good development that already exists in St. Leonard by encouraging new development to conform in the following ways:
- Continuing to allow parking on the street to support the ease of access for customers.
- Proposing Options for reducing the number of on-site parking spaces required (see pg. 33-34)
- Continuing and expanding the use of sidewalks to allow customers to stop once and shop in more than one shop.
- Ensuring that new development is of a similar scale in size to existing businesses.
- Allowing some small-scale residential over and to the rear of the main street stores to provide workforce housing that will support the businesses.
- Ensuring that new buildings and additions are attractive and in character with the town.
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Set 3 - Articles 4, 5 & 6
IMPORTANT INFORMATION RE: JUNE 7TH PUBLIC FORUM
Set 3 - Articles 4, 5 & 6
Many citizens have expressed interest in the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance, and we have received many e-mails, letters, and petitions. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify some issues prior to the meeting:
- There are no proposals to construct 800 townhomes in St. Leonard. As part of the Master Plan & Zoning Ordinance update process, staff prepared a residential build-out analysis for the St. Leonard Town Center. The analysis looked at vacant parcels within the Town Center and the potential number of additional dwelling units based upon 1, 2, 4, 8 or 10 dwelling units per acre. The potential new dwellings units at these densities would be 80 (1 unit/acre), 180 (2 units/acres), 350 (4 units/acre), 700 (8 units/acre), and 870 (10 units/acre). The Master Plan does not recommend allowing the maximum density of 10 units per acre. The draft Master Plan recommends that the minimum lot size should be of sufficient size to accommodate dwellings on private septic systems, based upon Health Department approval. The slideshow explaining the analysis is available on line at http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/Planning_Zoning/TownCenters/StLeonardDevelopmentPatternspresentation_2008-10-29_compressed.pdf and the current draft of the Master Plan at http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/Planning_Zoning/TownCenters/StLeonardMP/May3-2010DistributionDraft-2ndDraft.pdf. The Waste Management section begins on Page 37 of the draft Master Plan.
- The proposed Zoning Ordinance will allow up to 4 units per acre throughout the Town Center. Similar density is allowed outside the Town Centers in the Residential District. This density would not require public sewer but would require Health Department approval for private septic systems. This density may or may not be achievable, depending on the soils of individual properties. You can view Set 3 of the proposed Zoning Ordinance, which includes Article 5 (Residential Development Requirements) here: http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/Planning_Zoning/TownCenters/StLeonardZO/Articles4-6DistributionDraft.pdf (Set 3 also includes Articles 4 and 6, which address non-residential/commercial development requirements.)
- The subject of the public forum is NOT whether to build a public sewerage system in St. Leonard. That decision is to be made by the Board of County Commissioners after a feasibility study has been conducted (and if the study determines that it is feasible). The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget calls for the feasibility study to be conducted in Fiscal Year 2012.
- The following topics WILL be discussed at the public forum:
- Overview of the Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance Update process;Review of Sets 1 & 2 (Distributed May 4th);
- Presentation of Set 3 of the Zoning Ordinance:
- Article 4 (General Development Submittal Requirements)
- Article 5 (Residential Development Requirements)
- Article 6 (Non-Residential Development Requirements)
- Questions/Comments
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May 10, 2010 Public Forum - The Planning Commission hosted a Public Forum for presentation of the 2nd Draft of the Master Plan, as well as Sets 1 and 2 of the Zoning Ordinance.
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Set 1 & Set 2 - Distributed May 3, 2010
Now that the St. Leonard Town Center Master Plan draft is nearly complete, staff is rolling out the first two sets of the draft St. Leonard Town Center Zoning Ordinance, consisting of Articles 1-3, the Zoning Maps, and Articles 7-11. As you may recall from the Zoning Ordinance kick-off meeting last year, the Board of County Commissioners' goal is to make sure that all of the Town Center Zoning Ordinances match the Calvert County Zoning Ordinance in terms of organization and approach. At the same time, the Board hopes to promote green design, compactness, and uniformity of construction standards.
Set 1 includes amendments to Articles 1, 2 and 3 as well as amendments to the St. Leonard Town Center Zoning Maps. Set 2 includes the addition of Articles 7 through 11 to the St. Leonard Town Center Zoning Ordinance. Articles 7, 9, 10, and 11 are merely references to the Calvert County Zoning Ordinance, as there are no changes to those regulations that apply in the St. Leonard Town Center. Article 8, Environmental Requirements, includes regulations for development in and around wetlands and streams, as well as the addition of a Tree Ordinance.
Please use the links below to view drafts of Set 1 and 2.
- Map Amendment 1: Amend the northern boundary of the Town Center. The current boundary line was based on a tree line that has changed since establishment of the St. Leonard Town Center in 1983. The new boundary line is proposed to follow lot lines recorded on the Weems property and to establish a new line on the Pardoe property based on the approved site plan for the business currently located on that property.
- Map Amendment 2: Amend the boundary between Sub-area A and Sub-area B of the Village District on the west side of Route 765, to "straighten" the line.
- Establishment of a new Sub-area C in the Village District, based on recommendations in the latest draft of the Master Plan (see discussion beginning on page 18 of the Master Plan). This area will be subject to a proposed Form-based Code (to be included in Article 6 of the Zoning Ordinance). Two options for the new Sub-area are proposed (Option A and Option B).
We are very interested in your thoughts and are
requesting that preliminary comments on Sets 1 & 2
be submitted by May 25, 2010.
For contact information, please see below.
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For additional information, to be added to our mailing list, or to submit comments,
please contact
Miriam Gholl, Zoning Planner
Department of Planning & Zoning
Mailing Address: County Services Plaza, 150 Main Street
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
E-mail: ghollma@co.cal.md.us
Phone: (410) 535-1600 ext. 2321
Fax: (410) 414-3092
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