PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — As Calvert County officials plan for the next five years of economic development, housing is top of mind for the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), residents and experts.
The Department of Economic Development contracted Sage Policy Group, a Baltimore-based consulting firm, to analyze Calvert County’s challenges and opportunities for the 2026–2031 time period.
Calvert faces a multitude of issues in terms of housing. For starters, the county remains largely a commuter county, with 70% of workers commuting to neighboring counties for work. Meanwhile, 46% of Calvert County’s workers commute into the county from nearby counties for those jobs. This creates heavy traffic congestion on Calvert’s roads.
Sage economist Anirban Basu said one possible reason for this discrepancy is that Calvert lacks the high-quality jobs that would keep people in the county for work. He cautioned the BOCC not to depend on health care to be a job generator, as the industry may face financial strain in the near future because of cuts to grant funding and Medicaid. Instead, he advised the BOCC to take a more holistic approach and consider entrepreneurs, small businesses and finance.
Calvert also has a resident base that’s dedicated to maintaining the rural heritage of the county and strongly resists high-density housing structures like apartments — partly for the lifestyle, and partly because of the traffic issues. To accommodate more higher-density housing would mean significant infrastructure projects to mitigate traffic and would ultimately change the character of the county.
In addition to traffic concerns, Commissioner Earl Hance pointed out that allowing apartment structures requires the county to go on a municipal water and sewage system. Currently, only a few towns in the county have municipal water and sewage, like North Beach, while many single-family homes rely on more expensive well and pump-out systems. But going on a municipal system would be a massive project and would “unleash problems” like sewage failure and would encourage developers to come in and build high-density housing that residents don’t want.
Commissioner Mike Hart also pointed out that these apartments wouldn’t necessarily even be affordable. Hart passionately advocated for “young couples who did everything right” and still can’t afford to buy a home because they can’t save for a down payment on top of their current housing costs.
Commissioner Grasso added that having a workforce that finds it hard to live in the county is “a big obstacle for us.”
Grasso also stressed that her constituents want to keep Calvert rural, and many move to the county for lower-density population and to enjoy the rural lifestyle. Commissioner Catherine Grasso, who lives in Dunkirk, said this matched her experience when she moved from Prince George’s County years ago — and because of development-resistant policies and culture, people continue to move to Calvert for the same reasons she did.
Basu agreed, adding that his research showed how much Calvert residents value their “quality of life” in the county and that the economic development plan should focus on how to maintain the rural heritage people love.
Nevertheless, he said, “All counties have bills to pay and need a tax base.”
The challenge, Basu said, was how to keep working people in the county — and housing solutions would require massive investment and policy overhaul.
Economic Development Director Julie Orberg and Basu said that the findings were not recommendations to the county or the board, but were meant to provide information to “position Calvert County to face oncoming challenges.”
Ultimately, the commissioners said they will align with what their constituents want for as long as they want it.
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So this comes a day after a judge allows Lusby Villas that negatively impact the community?