Does the Comprehensive Plan draft call for expanded town centers? Why?
Yes. The two overarching visions of the Comprehensive Plan are to preserve the county’s rural character and direct growth to designated areas. The town centers are the designated growth areas as called for in the 1983 Calvert County Comprehensive Plan. To meet the Comprehensive Plan visions, one objective is ensuring our town centers are attractive, convenient and interesting places to live, work and shop.

The current Comprehensive Plan update draft aims to better define town center boundaries by considering existing land use patterns, the size of the core community, the roadway network, utility extension policies, preservation priorities and environmental constraints.

New boundaries would simply include areas that naturally enhance the town centers; that is, the boundary now follows the natural parcel boundary lines. Redefining these boundaries will make future development in these locations more predictable and better identified with the associated town center. Using this method, the town centers of Solomons, Huntingtown, Lusby, Owings, Prince Frederick and St. Leonard would expand. Dunkirk Town Center is not expanding.

While the plan draft recommends expansions of some town centers, it does not automatically expand the boundaries. That can only be done through zoning amendments which involves a full public process.

Show All Answers

1. What is a Comprehensive Plan?
2. What is a Zoning Ordinance?
3. Who is involved in updating the Calvert County Comprehensive Plan?
4. What does a Comprehensive Plan do?
5. Why is a Comprehensive Plan needed?
6. Why are we updating ours now?
7. How does the Zoning Ordinance relate to the Comprehensive Plan?
8. What is the timeline?
9. How will the public be involved?
10. What is Calvert County's history with Comprehensive Plans?
11. Whom should I contact for more information?
12. Does the Comprehensive Plan draft call for expanded town centers? Why?
13. Is the Prince Frederick Town Center to be significantly expanded? Why?
14. Is it true that traffic in Prince Frederick is projected to reach 83,500 trips per day by 2030?
15. Is it true the draft Comprehensive Plan ignores Maryland Department of Transportation studies predicting future transportation impacts in Prince Frederick even before its proposed expansion?
16. Shouldn’t studies be conducted on local traffic before any town centers are expanded?
17. Why does the draft Comprehensive Plan designate Dunkirk as a “major town center?”
18. If land preservation is a goal of the Comprehensive Plan, why has there been a moratorium on Agricultural Preservation Districts since 2013?
19. Why has land preservation slowed in Calvert County?
20. Is it true the draft Comprehensive Plan has no recommendations to improve the county’s effort to preserve 40,000 acres of farm and forest land?
21. Is it true the Board of County Commissioners members seized the Comprehensive Plan process from the Calvert County Planning Commission by hiring a consultant of their choice?
22. Is it true the Board of County Commissioners rushed through the Comprehensive Plan process two years prior to the 10-year review deadline?
23. Did the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) stop the 1989 Prince Frederick Master Plan Update Prior to the Election of 2014?
24. Did the BOCC adopt piecemeal changes, disregarding the Prince Frederick Master Plan?
25. Did the BOCC change requirements for developers when building apartments/townhomes in town centers?
26. In Prince Frederick, did the BOCC reduce setbacks, increase the number of dwellings allowed per acre (14 to 24), increase big box store size and increase building height to 6 stories?
27. Did the BOCC adopt regulations allowing big box and restaurants to have signs taller than local businesses?
28. Did the BOCC attempt to eliminate Architectural Review Committees (ARCs) and weaken regulations to favor chains and weaken ARC authority?
29. Did the BOCC gut sign regulations and weaken regulations to allow sign proliferation?
30. Did the BOCC remove architectural standards for signs?
31. Did the Board of County Commissioners adopt term limits for the Planning Commission and other boards?
32. Did Board of County Commissioners members exempt themselves from term limits?