PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Updates to the Calvert County Agricultural Preservation Rules and Regulations will move forward, with a public hearing date to be determined. The public comment period for the changes began in August and concluded with the Sept. 30 Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting. The changes have received community pushback throughout the process from property owners.
The Calvert County Agricultural Preservation Rules and Regulations govern the formation of Agricultural Preservation Districts (APDs) and the implementation and administration of the program. The Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board (APAB) reviews the rules and regulations as needed and recommends changes for adoption. APDs, in turn, determine eligibility for Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) programs.
According to the Agricultural Preservation page on Planning and Zoning’s website, “between 2007 and 2012 an unbalanced supply of TDRs in the private market negatively impacted the program. As a result, the county placed a moratorium on new Agricultural Preservation District (APD) applications in 2013, which remains in effect today. In 2020 the Transferable Development Right (TDR) Committee reviewed the program and made several recommendations for improvement, which included lifting the moratorium on the creation of new APDs once changes proposed by the APAB are adopted into the rules and regulations.”
The updated rules and regulations’ purpose is to:
- Reorganize and simplify the overall document
- Clarify processes and procedures
- Include necessary technical updates
- Update eligibility criteria for APD designation and Purchase and Retirement (PAR) fund applications
- Include the new TDR reserve program
- Address allowable density in APDs
- Codify policies regarding the use of APDs for private and public events
- Limit amendments
Two areas that received significant pushback during the public comment period were about regulations on properties already in the program, lot dwelling entitlements and what constitutes a tenant structure under the regulations. Several property owners opined that properties already in the program should be subject to the rules and regulations in place when they first entered the program, and only new applicants should adhere to the new rules and regulations. Planning and Zoning and the BOCC will continue to evaluate options as the process continues.
Read the draft here and view Planning and Zoning’s Sept. 30 updates here.
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