march 6 2024 work session packet

Exactly as extracted, unformatted — for checking against the original. The readable version is easier to read.

CENTREVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION
March 6, 2024
Liberty Building - 2nd Floor
107 North Liberty Street
7:00 p.m.
Work Session
A G E N D A
I. CALL TO ORDER – Kara Willis – Chair
II. Citizen Comment (Citizens are requested to keep their comments to three minutes)
III. Discussion
a. Zoning Map Amendments
b. Review of Planning & Zoning Commission Bylaws
IV. Citizen Comment (Citizens are requested to keep their comments to three minutes)
V. Council Member Report
VI. Adjournment

Planning Commission Workplan recommendations for 2024 – with excerpts from 2040 Comp
Plan for reference
1. 2040 Comp Plan item:
The Town’s Water and Sewer Allocation Policy should be revised to prioritize allocations for
development consistent with the complete neighborhoods approach:
1. Intergenerational neighborhoods with housing to meet the needs of area residents through
many stages of life.
2. Cohesive functional, and aesthetic use of open spaces enlarging resource areas connecting
existing and planned open spaces on adjoining tracts of land preserving of broad open vistas.
3. Neighborhoods and construction of buildings designed to respond to the unique
environmental, cultural, and scenic resources that characterize a property and its
surroundings.
4. Very low impact and highly energy-efficient patterns of development, especially in or near
environmentally sensitive areas.
Additionally, Tier Map 1-B (Land Use Article Section 1-502, Maryland Annotated Code) identifies
areas where Town Sewer is Planned and areas that are important to remain Greenbelt (Areas
noted as Tier IVA). The Town will evaluate its current Water and Sewer Allocation Policy to
prioritize allocations for development consistent with the complete neighborhoods approach.
2. Utilize Zoning Checkup tool - https://planning.maryland.gov/Documents/Our-
Engagement/CheckUp/Zoning-CheckUp-Guide.pdf
We can customize it and our MDP Regional Planner who developed it along with his colleagues is
available to assist us through our review.
Zoning Discussion/review items – Centreville Specific
1. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) – re current ADU task force – and how it may affect where
and how they are reviewed, approved, by right etc. in Centreville
2. Current zoning item re “average” of setbacks where no other buildings exist on either side of
the lot to be developed – especially in CBD where we may in fact want to promote the
buildings to be at back of the sidewalk (build to line @ back of sidewalk – or “zero setback”).
“170-22 E
Except as otherwise noted in the Schedule of Zone Regulations, the following
additional requirements shall apply to the CBD District:

o Front yard setbacks shall be established by setbacks of existing buildings
located on either side of the lot to be developed. Where no buildings exist on
either side of the lot to be developed, the average setback from the edge of the
street to the building front of all buildings along the street shall be used to
determine the maximum setback of the proposed development…..”
3. 2040 Comp Plan item Complete Neighborhoods (excerpts below):
Complete Neighborhoods
The yellow areas on Map 2 show the location of the Town’s future neighborhoods. These areas would
allow for a diverse set of housing types, open spaces and parks, institutional uses, and, where applicable,
a limited amount of neighborhood level retail, office, and commercial service uses. As noted in Chapter
VIII, Natural Environment, this Plan recommends substantial forest regeneration, clustering home sites to
minimize the coverage of the land in impervious surfaces, connecting areas with bike and walking trails,
using the stormwater practices designed to treat stormwater associated with the most significant rainfall
events, right-sizing the design of Town streets and infrastructure, and developing renewable energy
neighborhoods—that is, the Centreville neighborhoods of the future could be powered by renewable
energy sources. These goals may require approaches that are fundamentally different than conventional
zoning and subdivision procedures provide for.
To implement complete neighborhoods for the future, the Town will update its land development
regulations to incentivize/encourage creative design and development of complete neighborhoods as
recommended in Chapter IV, Land Use. This Plan prepares for a future when neighborhoods may look
substantially different than the conventional single-family subdivisions now in Town. In the future, homes
may be clustered in higher density arrangements and in attached buildings which will leave more open
space to be preserved. Housing types and architecture are likely to be different than they are today too,
and zoning, subdivision, and infrastructure standards may need to be modified to guide development
where energy efficiency, affordability, and very economical utility delivery will be driving Forces in
community design.
This complete neighborhoods planning approach should be implemented by zoning and subdivision
regulation updates that include modifications to the development plan review and approval process,
which incentivizes/encourages developers to use more creativity in neighborhood design. More specific
objectives to be achieved by development in the Growth Area are as follows:
• To encourage cohesive, functional, and aesthetic use of open spaces including the enlarging resource
areas, connecting existing and planned open spaces on adjoining tracts of land, and preserving of
broad open vistas.
• To encourage flexibility in the design of neighborhoods and construction of buildings so they are
responsive to the unique environmental, cultural, and scenic resources that characterize a property
and its surroundings.
• To encourage intergenerational neighborhoods, where housing is provided to meet the needs of area
residents through many stages of life.
• To encourage innovations in the development of land to bring about very low impact and highly
energy-efficient patterns of development, especially in or near environmentally sensitive areas.

• To tie the development of land more closely to the goals and recommendations of this Comprehensive
Plan.
4. 2040 Comp Plan - TED: This Plan recommends the creation of a Technology Enterprise District
(TED) to be reserved for master developed and cohesively planned projects. Nearly 135 acres are
so designated for office and light industrial use. This does not include vegetated buffers and open
spaces that have long been envisioned along the highway frontage. Corporate, business, and
professional office complexes, along with medical or technology campuses are some uses
envisioned, contained within a parklike setting. This area can strongly contribute to the economic
well-being of the Town and region. This new TED is referenced in Map 4 and Chapter IV, Land Use.
With competent business park design and infrastructure planning, this acreage could readily
accommodate up to 1.3 million square feet of floor area and about 1,460 jobs.
5. Commercial: MD Route 304 Corridor
Commercial uses are recommended in the MD Route 304 Corridor, on the south side of Route 304 roughly
extending from Vincit Street 0.75 mile eastward. About 35 acres of land is so designated on Map 2. This
would be a central commercial corridor for the Growth Area at a highly accessible location intersected by
the planned East Side Major Collector, which is visible on Map 2 but discussed in more detail in Chapter
IX, Transportation. Both the planned East Side Collector and MD Route 304 are envisioned as future
parkways and the arrangement of the corridor’s buildings and sites should take on the character of
parkway, with coordinated landscaping, trees, screening of parking lots, and buildings along MD Route
304, generally set within a park-like environment.
A collector road running parallel to MD Route 304 is shown on Map 2. Its purpose is to interconnect all
future commercial sites and eliminate the need for multiple driveway connections to MD Route 304. This
collector street is mapped roughly 400 feet back from MD Route 304 creating a compact linear form along
the parkway. The Town will need to prepare a small area master plan and design standards and adopt
zoning and site development requirements to guide the development of this area to avoid uncoordinated
and sprawling commercial development.
6. East side of Pennsylvania Avenue
The Town’s other Commercial zoning district is called C-3 (Intense Commercial). It is located on the south
side of MD Route 18 east of MD Route 213 and along Railroad Avenue from the Acme Shopping Center to
Pennsylvania Avenue. The east side of Pennsylvania Avenue is also zoned C-3. Commercial uses including
automotive garages, motor vehicle fuel stations, bottling and beverage distribution, wholesale businesses
and warehousing, and manufacturing are permitted in the C-3 district. These uses, if located along Railroad
or Pennsylvania Avenues, could adversely impact the character of adjoining residential neighborhoods,
and introduce heavy truck traffic onto local streets. This Plan recommends that zoning map and text
amendments be considered to promote more compatible commercial uses in these areas.
• As noted on the Future Land Use Map 4, this Plan recommends that the CBD be extended along
the north side of Railroad Avenue to Little Hut Drive, and the full length of the east side of
Pennsylvania Avenue.

Please note, the Town has committed to a minimum number of parking spaces to be provided on
the Town owned site on the east side, which are an important consideration to be included
accommodated/addressed in incentivizing any updates for this area.
7. Planned Business District (PBD) -This plan strongly recommends that space in the business park
be reserved primarily for major and intensive commercial uses that may not be compatible
elsewhere in Centreville and which can strongly contribute to the local economy and employment.
A Master Plan for the business park indicates a mix of parcel size, the majority of which will
accommodate large scale commercial buildings and site operations, large office and flex-space
buildings, and to a lesser degree, retail and hospitality.
8. Incorporate Open Space into Neighborhood Design
The Town's current subdivision regulations do not outline minimum open space requirements across all
zoning districts. This Plan recommends they be revised to lead to development that will ensure both
active open and passive open spaces shape future neighborhood development as well as provide for the
connection of trails and greenways throughout the Town. This recommendation lies in conjunction with
Open Space/ Resource Conservation discussed earlier in this chapter, this however is intended for open
space to play a deliberate and major role in good neighborhood design.
9. Evaluate Residential Zoning Densities
This Plan encourages re-evaluation of existing residential zoning densities given the projections provided
in Chapter III., Municipal Growth, and the preliminary WWTP expansion plan outlined in Chapter VI.
Community Facilities. Infill parcels abutting environmentally sensitive areas should be considered for a
creation of a Residential Conservation floating zone. In general, reassessing permitted maximum
densities will easily allow beneficial infill development when using complete neighborhood zoning
principles, while also maintaining a responsible rate of growth through 2040.
10. Maintain a Land Use Pattern that Encourages Multiple Housing Types
The current Zoning Map classifies the Turpin Farm as R-3, a zoning district that allows a large variety of
housing types. The Zoning Ordinance also currently allows certain tracts to be developed as planned unit
developments or traditional neighborhood developments and both districts allow flexibility in housing
types. Taken as a whole, Centreville’s zoning allows duplexes, townhouses, apartments in combination
with commercial buildings, and stand-alone multi-family buildings. In practice, however, specific standards
can make it practically difficult for property owners to deliver these options, even when they would
otherwise be compatible with neighborhood character. Increasing the supply of new housing, while
conserving existing neighborhood character is possible however and the Town should continue to
encourage a mix of housing types by reducing unwarranted regulatory obstacles where possible. This has

the added benefit of making more efficient use of available land and municipal infrastructure and does
not involve land development.
Presently duplexes are prohibited in the R-1 and R-2 zones and while they are allowed in the R-3 zone,
each of the two units in a duplex must have its own minimum lot area of 5,000 square feet, which is an
obstacle. Accessory apartments in separate buildings are not allowed in the R-1 district and only permitted
as a Special Exception in the R-2 district provided the lot is at least 10,000 square feet.
Duplexes and accessory apartments can be compatible within all residential neighborhoods and can have
no adverse impact on neighborhood quality of life. Duplexes can be made indistinguishable from single-
family houses as illustrated in the photographs here and can readily fit on the same lot as a single-family
house.
11. Develop A Town Greenway and Park System
The Park Advisory Board along with the Planning Commission should develop a review process for when
new trails and parks are being designed as part of a site plan proposal. An updated Park Plan should assess
the availability of public-school grounds for recreation, incorporate the resource conservation, land use,
growth area and other recommendations discussed throughout this Plan. The Park Advisory Board should
also coordinate with Queen Anne’s County on a regular basis in the update of the County Land
Preservation, Parks, and Recreational Plan.
The Town aspires to develop a greenway and trail network along with public neighborhood parks in all
future neighborhoods. Figure 7 shows existing parks and the recommended general location of future
greenways and parks. Where greenways are shown on land to be developed, such land should be
dedicated by the developer to the Town as public resources to be preserved in perpetuity and improved
for public recreational and educational purposes and managed for environmental protection.
New residential development projects should include the development, improvement, and dedication of
public parks, open spaces, and trails. This Plan acknowledges that the provision of exemplary park and
open spaces within major infill tracts (see Chapter III, Municipal Growth) and the Growth Area may reduce
the land available to developers for new housing units and that clustering of houses within the landscape
is one way to free up land for parks and open space. Future neighborhood development in Centreville will
favor creative arrangements of open spaces and neighborhood design that prioritize high accessibility to
parks over the run-of-the-mill platting of lots that maximize the yield of lots. Until such time as the Town
adopts specific regulations, the following standard should stand as the minimum amount of parkland in
new developments: 1,000 square feet of parkland should be provided for each proposed household in a
residential development.
This Plan also recommends that the Town coordinate with Queen Anne’s County Public Schools to program
school grounds for recreational purposes especially in areas that lack neighborhood parks. Centreville
Elementary School and Kennard Elementary School are especially accessible for residents within their
respective neighborhoods.
12. Consider and Adopt Growth Management Tools
This Plan recommends that the Town systematically study, and if found advisable adopt, regulations such
as adequate public facilities ordinances (APFO), impact fees, street, park, and school ground dedication
requirements, and other growth management tools and programs that could be administered to ensure
community facilities are appropriately funded so that their capacities are retained or expanded. This

includes police and fire and emergency medical services, whose capital facilities and services will need to
be expanded as development takes place to ensure adequate levels of service are maintained. It is the
Town’s policy that new development contributes to maintaining the adequacy and indeed improving
community facilities.
13. Protect Remaining Forest Areas and Streams
This Plan aims to establish broad vegetated buffers along all streams that run through the Town
and its designated growth area. Where redevelopment and the intensification of existing uses of
land is proposed or where new development is proposed on properties containing streams, the
Plan recommends that broad stream buffers be established wide enough to provide optimal
water quality improvement and preservation. Naturalized buffers play a significant role in
protecting water quality. Also, the Plan recommends that the Town plant buffers along streams
that are on publicly owned properties where feasible.
14. Modern Stormwater Management
Redevelopment under modern stormwater management regulations generally improves the quality and
reduces the quantity of runoff. The Town will continue to adhere to stormwater management regulations
that reduce water pollution through its agreement with QAC by which the County administers State
stormwater management and sediment and erosion control regulations within Town limits. This Plan
does recommend that in the early or conceptual parts of development site planning, the Planning
Commission guide developers to use low impact development and environmental site design.
15. Minimizing Impervious Surface - So, over the next 20 years, as development takes place in Town
and its growth area, the Town must aim to minimize the amount of new impervious surface area
created. See Chapter III., Municipal Growth for supporting recommendations.
16. Modernize Critical Area Regulations, Forest Conservation
The Town should continue to update its Critical Area Program and Ordinance, as required by State law, to
remain consistent with State Critical Area law and regulations and to reflect the unique context of
Centreville. Likewise, the Forest Conservation Ordinance needs to be updated especially considering the
opportunities arising from development in the Town and other recommendations related to forest
regeneration and stream protection.
17. A Town Forestry Program
Town implementation of a forestry program would promote forest health and vitality and greater tree
canopy coverage by (i) creating funding mechanisms for protecting existing and future forests, (ii) planting
street trees, (iii) encouraging the voluntary planting of native tree species on public and private lands, (iv)
encouraging property owners to conserve forested areas to the extent possible, and (v) growing local
forests through strict enforcement of the Town’s Forest Conservation Ordinance. Tree planting within the
Town can enhance the aesthetic quality of streetscapes, cool impervious surfaces, create wildlife habitat,
promote stormwater management, reduce energy consumption, and improve air quality. The Town has a
Tree Ordinance, Section 145 of the Town Code. In 2021, the Planning Commission recommended
amendments to that ordinance along with detailed specifications to guide the installation of street trees
on the Town’s public streets. This Plan recommends the adoption of these amendments.

18. Protect Stream Buffers
This Plan aims to establish naturalized stream buffers along all streams that run through Town and the
Growth Area. Where redevelopment of land is proposed or where new development is proposed on
properties containing streams, this Plan recommends that expansive stream buffers be established both
within and outside of the Critical Area. This Plan recommends that the Town amend the Zoning Ordinance
to require non-disturbance buffers of at least 100-feet wide on each side of perennial streams and 50-feet
on each side of intermittent streams, expanded as needed to account for steep slopes and floodplains.
Naturalized buffers play a significant role in protecting water quality and accommodating the migration of
wetlands and flood zones as sea levels rise. Also, the Plan recommends that the Town and other units of
government or public agencies plant wide stream buffers on publicly owned properties where feasible.
19. Protect Sensitive Environmental Areas
To ensure that regulations and standards related to environmental protection are implemented the Town
must insist on high quality site design, professionally engineered land plans, and thoughtful early reviews
of concept plans. Thoughtful land planning can promote the growth and resilience of natural areas, for
example by designating lands adjacent to existing streams for afforestation and land preservation.
Perennial and intermittent streams and adjoining natural buffers, habitats of threatened and endangered
species (where present), wetlands, steep slopes, and the forests shown on Map 5 should be protected
from the adverse effects of development. With respect to each of these “sensitive areas” within
Centreville, some level of protection is already in place through either local, state, and/or Federal
regulations. But the value of identifying sensitive area early in the site planning process for review by the
Planning Commission is vital to drawing up plans that offer the greatest long-term protection.
20. Transform the Growth Area into High Value Ecologically Sustainable Neighborhoods
Over the long term as the Growth Area is developed, this Plan recommends that the Town guide
community development into high value ecologically sustainable ways: for example, substantial forest
regeneration, clustering home sites to minimize the coverage of the land in impervious surfaces,
connecting areas with bike and walking trails to minimize vehicle trips, using the most advantageous
stormwater practices designed to treat stormwater associated with the most significant rainfall events not
just typical rain events, right-sizing the design of Town streets and infrastructure, and developing 100%
renewable energy neighborhoods—that is, Centreville future neighborhoods would be powered by
renewable energy sources.
21. Facilitate Access to Natural Resource Areas
Chapter IX, Transportation, describes and maps existing and proposed Greenways. The Greenways
encompass natural resource lands such as stream buffers and forested areas within the Town and its
Growth Area. The Greenways provide access to and through these areas to shorelines, parks, and
recreational opportunities and address a central organizing feature of this Plan–that natural areas should
interconnect the Town as it grows, providing residents with public access to and through natural areas.
22. Coordinate with the Queen Anne’s County, the State, Federal Agencies, and Non-
Government Organizations
The Town of Centreville provided leadership to the Corsica River – Watershed Restoration Action Strategy
– Final Report, September 2004 (WRAS). The effort led to measurable improvements in water quality.
There may be other opportunities over the next two decades for the Town to coordinate with others on
studies and strategies aimed at environmental improvements within the Corsica River Watershed.

23. Transportation Recommendations
• When land within the Growth Area is proposed for development, developers will be required to
conform their plans with this planned street system and build the new streets or upgrade existing
ones that serve their projects. The Town will coordinate with MDOT SHA to review traffic impact
studies for developments that impact State owned and maintained roadways. As is its practice,
the Town will continue to require that developers make planned street upgrades as a condition of
development approval. Until they are needed, the mapped street alignments are to be reserved
and protected from development.
• All planned upgrades and improvements should reflect the context and character of the areas
through which they pass and contribute to the sense of place of the local neighborhood or part of
Town. This is especially the case with the Primary Local streets. While these streets, which are
shown in green on Map 8 are intended to carry traffic through and between future neighborhoods,
intersecting residential or commercial driveways would be acceptable. The right-of-way and the
required pavement widths of the Primary Local streets should be balanced against the land uses
they are intended to serve. So, for example Laser Drive as an industrial roadway would be
significantly wider than the local residential streets that would extend through the Carter and
Turpin Farms
• Deploy Smart Street Technologies for Safer and More Effective Streets
New Collector streets should be smart streets—that is, outfitted with sensors that monitor and
record traffic volumes, heavy truck traffic, wear and tear, and conditions such as temperature, ice,
and other factors that would allow for the most efficient long-term care and management of the
street system. For MD Routes 213, 304 and 305, encourage MDOT SHA to deploy smart street
technologies. Also, for all streets consider the use streetlight technologies that can detect traffic
volumes at signalized intersections and adjust red and green times and pedestrian crosswalk times
to improve overall convenience and safety. Consider streetlights that can adjust to ambient light
conditions and increase in intensity when pedestrians approach on a sidewalk or crosswalk.
Consider embedded lights in crosswalks that light up to signal to oncoming vehicles when a
pedestrian is about to enter the crosswalk.
• Insist that New Development Build an interconnected Local Street System
It is critical that no major development become an island onto itself; that all neighborhoods and
parts of Town are interconnected. Roads that may be stub-ended in anticipation of future
extension into newly developed areas must not be prevented from being extended when the time
comes. New development must also conform itself to the planned streets shown in this Plan and
construct those streets whose alignments pass through the development tract.
• Ensure all Aspects of the Transportation System are Accessible and Safe to People with
Disabilities, Children, and Seniors.
Through development plan review and attention to the details of street design, the Town can
ensure that new and redeveloped parking lots, sidewalks, crosswalks, transit stops, trails, and
entrance ways into commercial and institutional buildings or sites meet the objectives of the
Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Build A Town-wide Trail Network
Extend the Millstream Trail from Mill Stream Park east into the Growth Area and build an
interconnected trail network as shown in Figure 16, “Greenway and Trail Plan”. The Town should
require developers to build multi-use trail linkages within and near their development projects
using the figure as a guide. This is relevant within the Town and in the Growth Area.
This Plan recommends that trail alignments be reserved, and the trails be constructed as land
development takes place or sooner where practical. The trails may run within or along the planned
collector road rights-of-way or on separate alignments and ultimately would provide a greenway
network connecting residents to the Town’s park system.
The Town should also consider preparing and implementing a Walking and Bicycle Trail Plan which
would recommend and program specific improvements for pedestrian and bicycle connectivity
throughout the greater Centreville area. This plan should refine and detailed the proposed
greenway trail alignments shown in this Chapter and coordinate with property owners as needed
to secure rights of access. The Town could then actively implement projects recommended in that
plan, supported where possible by grant programs. In the meantime, the major trail alignments
shown in Figure 17 should be implemented to the extent possible.
• Coordinate with Queen Anne’s County to Ensure Continued Transit
Queen Anne’s County provides bus service to Town residents to Kent Island at Stevensville. Over
time the Town and County should coordinate in the context of the County’s five-year transit
planning process to determine if adjustments and expansions of the services would be beneficial
to local mobility goals. To be a vibrant intergenerational community, paratransit service may need
to become especially useful within Centreville given the trends toward an increasingly older
population.
Zoning and Subdivision Amendments
The Centreville Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations regulate the use and development of land
within Town boundaries. The Zoning Ordinance establishes the purposes of each zoning district and
specific standards such as the maximum allowable building height, minimum lot size, and the maximum
number of dwellings per acre. The Subdivision Regulations provide standards and procedures for
subdividing land into buildable lots and laying out streets, parks, and other public improvements. Both
laws are extremely important and are amended from time to time following public hearings and
deliberations.
The Zoning Ordinance is Chapter 170 of the Town Code. The Subdivision Regulations are set forth in
Chapter 138. Amendments can help align these essential ordinances with the objectives and
recommendations of this Plan. Some amendments should be made and adopted soon after adopting this
Plan and some require more time for study, consultation with the public, and deliberation. Here are the
main topic areas to be addressed with the recommended time frames for study and adoption.
Immediate Term Amendments
These are among the main amendments that should be evaluated and adopted soon after adoption of this
Plan as part of the Zoning Checkup process.

• Comprehensively amend the Zoning Map to bring it into alignment with the land use
recommendations set forth in this Comprehensive Plan, most notably Map 4, Chapter IV, Future Land
Use.
• Create the following two new zoning districts with purposes and standards in accord with this Plan:
Resource Conservation / Open Space District, and Institutional District, and update the Traditional
Neighborhood Development (TND) District.
• Modify the current zoning and subdivision regulations standards and procedures to establish master
planned complete neighborhoods as the preferred and required approach to development within
residential zoning districts, the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process and standards should focus
on the complete neighborhood approach for Annexations.
• Establish stand-alone residential buildings as a permitted use within the Central Business District
(CBD).
• Consider incorporation within the Zoning Ordinance of language to require testing and
documentation of the traffic carrying capacity of streets and intersections, the adequacy of
sidewalks, pedestrian routes generally, and bikeways, and the adequacy of municipal water, sewer,
and other facilities and services as a condition precedent to development plan approval.
• Establish a required public comment period and standards for the Town to follow before it can
issue a permit to demolish any building in the CBD.
• Amend the existing common open space provisions in the Zoning Ordinance to establish a
required minimum amount of open space, a minimum amount of improved amenity open space,
and the provision of park amenities.
• Establish standards for buffers on both sides of streams of at least 100-foot wide for perennial
streams and 50-foot wide for intermittent streams and consider minimum buffers along existing
forests.
• Undertake other amendments that would improve the Zoning Ordinance and support
implementation of this Plan.
• 2009 Community Plan Community Design Recommendations are included in the Annex.
Important for the Implementation of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the Development Design
Standards should be revisited and appropriately adjusted especially in how they might help
guide the development of Complete Neighborhoods throughout Centreville (not just in Growth
Areas) and their implementation through the “Zoning Checkup” as well as review guidance.

Longer Term Amendments
These are the amendments that should be evaluated and if found advisable, approved within about three
years of adopting this Comprehensive Plan.
• Amend the subdivision regulations to require the expansion and reservation of broad riparian
buffers and the reservation, improvement, and dedication of planned streets, open spaces, parks,
and school sites as a condition of subdivision approval.
• Amend the Zoning Ordinance to include the protection and preservation of the Centreville historic
district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places1.
• Amend the standards of the Zoning Ordinance that presently make it difficult to provide
compatible and affordable housing options such as duplexes, accessory apartments, and small
senior care homes.
• Adopt architectural, building, and site design guidelines and standards for development and
redevelopment specific to the Central Business District.
• Adopt new standards for public streets as recommended in Chapter IX, Transportation.
• Update regulations including the Critical Area regulations and the Floodplain Management
Ordinance for areas vulnerable to sea level rise.
Water and Sewer Allocation Program
This Plan recommends that the Town Council adopt, publish, and regularly update allocation policies for
public water and sewer services immediately. As documented in Chapter VI, Community Facilities,
available water supply capacity only approximates that needed to serve 90 more dwelling units and
wastewater treatment capacity only approximates that needed to serve 144 more dwelling units. It is in
the public interest of responsible and effective growth management, fiscal well-being, and economic
development, to establish procedures for (i) continuously tracking the use of water and sewer services
against design and permit capacities and (ii) for requesting and approving allocations.
It is further recommended that the Town also immediately designate and maintain unallocated emergency
reserves of water and sewer capacities in an amount judged sufficient by the Town Council upon
consultation with its consulting engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Studies and Specific Plans
The Plan has identified challenges which require further study and coordination with the State of Maryland
and QAC, (and with residents, business owners and other stakeholders) before specific or detailed
recommendations can be made. The most pressing is the study of wastewater treatment capacity, the
1 The Centreville Historic District was listed on the United States, National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 2004. The National Register
of Historic Places is managed by the National Park Service as part of a “national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to
identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archeological resources” (National Register of Historic Places (www.NPS.gov). The District
(Centreville’s downtown) was laid out during the 18th century. The inventory description of the District and a listing of the structures that contribute
to the District’s significance are provided at: https://mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?NRID=1459.

design of a new wastewater treatment plant, and acquisition and outfitting of another spray irrigation
field. This study and the plan for financing necessary upgrades is underway.
Transportation and Traffic Operational Study
A transportation, traffic operation and safety study for Centreville should be undertaken in coordination
with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration MDOT SHA with the
purpose of identifying existing and future problem areas and proposing and identifying funding solutions.
This Study needs to consider safety, especially pedestrian safety transportation connectivity (gaps in
sidewalk, bicycle and roadway network), east-west connectivity. Identification of needed safety and
operational improvements, including but not limited to the consideration of applicable roundabouts. The
study area should include MD Route 213 from the U.S. 301 interchange to the northern municipal limits
and western Town limits on Corsica Neck Road to the US 301/304 Interchange on the East and the main
intersections throughout this study area. The streets to be studied include Commerce and Liberty Streets
and those that radiate from Downtown such as Broadway, Water Street, Chesterfield Avenue, Kidwell
Avenue, Little Kidwell Avenue, and Turpins Lane as well as all links and major collectors identified in
the Centreville growth areas. After the initial study, this Plan recommends that traffic conditions be
continuously monitored and traffic counts along key sections and intersections, as well as implementation
progress of identified solutions be periodically updated.
Funding Mechanisms
It is advisable that the Town create a five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) which is a financial
planning tool for scheduling infrastructure priorities in line with available and projected revenues. A CIP
matches planned capital projects with required revenue sources, which may include general obligation
bonds, the general fund, and QAC, State, and/or Federal payments. The Town should use its CIP to
schedule the improvements recommended in this Plan and those that flow from supporting studies.
Public sewer service and water supply in Centreville are provided through an enterprise fund, which means
that operations and expansions of capacity are to be financed by new system users and grants, but not
funded through the general fund of Town government. There may be times when direct County assistance
in expanding essential facilities is desirable as the optimal way to support planned development. This Plan
recommends that the Town and County jointly study and advance strategies to fund needed expansions
of water and sewer services. After all, Centreville is a vital location for planned growth within the overall
development framework of the County.
The Town should continue to work cooperatively with the funding programs administered by State
agencies to implement key priorities. Each of these agencies has a long-term interest in promoting the
harmonious, prosperous, and environmentally sustainable development of Centreville. As discussed
below, this value is illuminated in the State’s overarching blueprint for economic vitality and environmental
stewardship as part of a Maryland Department of Planning program, called “A Better Maryland.”2
2 https://abetter.maryland.gov/plan

Interjurisdictional Coordination
Centreville and Queen Anne’s County
Growth Area and General Planning
This Plan counts on Queen Anne’s County’s cooperation with the Town in not allowing development
activities within the Town’s Growth Area, without municipal annexation. The Town and County share
interests in the thoughtful and planned development of Centreville over the long term. The Town needs
to develop infrastructure and support patterns of growth that preserve future parkland and resource
areas, open space corridors for trails, the rights-of-way for future streets, and opportunities for the
efficient provision of emergency services, among other things. These essential goals can be blocked by
uncoordinated and unplanned development.
Queen Anne’s County in turn relies on Centreville to absorb a share of the County’s growth so that among
other things: farming areas are not converted to development or fragmented into suburban sprawl;
domestic wastewater is treated at the wastewater treatment thereby delivering water quality benefits
over the alternative of onsite private septic systems; historic investments in schools and other facilities are
optimized and school bussing costs are minimized; and County roadways are not burdened by commuting
traffic. Development in the Town’s Growth Area without annexation and Town infrastructure would
disrupt implementation of this Comprehensive Plan. This Plan recommends that the Town and County
coordinate on:
• The continual review, update, and implementation of the Queen Anne’s County Comprehensive
Water and Sewer Master Plan.
• Strategies for land preservation in the designated Greenbelt around the Growth Area.
• Preserving and acquiring open spaces for use as spray irrigation fields.
• Town review and comment on land use and development proposals within the Growth Area,
which may necessitate the preparation of a Joint Planning Agreement between the Town and
County.
• County funding assistance for municipal water and sewer facilities and wastewater treatment plan
upgrades.
• County funding assistance and cooperation in the reservation of land for and construction of
planned streets, parks, open spaces, and potential school sites.
This Plan further recommends that the separate Town and County Planning Commissions and staff meet
periodically to review implementation of their respective comprehensive plans and work to sustain
existing and develop new cooperative arrangements.
Queen Anne’s County Land Preservation, Parks, and Recreation Plan
This Plan recommends that the Town participate with QAC in its regular five-year update of the County
Land Preservation, Parks, and Recreation Plan. The plan is required by the State of Maryland for the
County, and the towns in the County, to be eligible for local Program Open Space (POS) grants. POS is a
statewide program that funds the purchase and development of parkland. In coordination with the County,
each year Centreville can submit land acquisition and park development requests for funding
consideration under the Open Space Annual Program which the County submits to the Maryland
Departments of Natural Resources and Planning for approval.

Areas of Critical State Concern
The State of Maryland has prepared and adopted a statewide plan, A Better Maryland, which seeks
to support a thriving economy and environmental stewardship throughout Maryland. The Plan’s
highlight is its commitment to collaboration between the State and local governments by providing
resources and tools for implementing long-term plans. To facilitate this collaboration, the State’s
plan advances certain “areas of critical state concern.” The most prominent for Centreville are
shown in Figure 17. This Comprehensive Plan recommends close coordination between the State
and the Town.
A Continuing Planning Program
Town planning is a continuous process guided by an adopted comprehensive plan, and the primary
responsibility falls to the Planning Commission. The Centreville Planning Commission routinely reviews
site development plans and subdivision plats, and it has the authority to lead more detailed studies and
plans and advise the Town Council and the citizens of the Town on changes to zoning and other
regulations, annexations, and capital improvements. As part of its work, the Planning Commission should
also conduct a yearly assessment of growth and development and a progress report about
implementation of this Comprehensive Plan as part of its Annual Report. The Annual Report should then
be made available to Town residents, neighboring jurisdictions, and the State of Maryland.