march 6 2024 work session packet

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 singlefamily 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.