Calvert County Invites Community Feedback on Huntingtown Town Center Master Plan

The plan has guided land use, transportation, community facilities, economic development, and environmental stewardship since its adoption in 1993. The update matters because it will align those local policies with the county’s broader Comprehensive Plan and establish the planning framework for one of Calvert County’s designated town centers.

The public process is continuing, not beginning

A community meeting is scheduled for September 15 at 6 p.m. at the Huntingtown Volunteer Fire Department, 4030 Old Town Road. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the county’s YouTube channel.

The county announcement presents the meeting as the start of the update process. County planning records cited by the Southern Maryland Chronicle indicate that technical and public work began in mid-2025:

• The Planning Commission directed staff to begin the update in July 2025.
• An online public survey ran during July and August 2025.
• An initial public-input meeting reviewing the survey results was held in October 2025.
• In November, county planners presented a recommendation concerning a potential Rural Commercial District rezoning option.

The November presentation did not include a formal vote. County materials now state that the rezoning option is no longer under consideration following public feedback. The stated reason was to avoid creating nonconforming land uses.

For property owners and businesses, this procedural history is material. The September meeting should be treated as another stage in an ongoing plan update, rather than as the first opportunity to influence the document.

What the plan controls

The Huntingtown plan implements the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Huntingtown is one of Calvert County’s official town centers, a designation adopted in 1983 to concentrate growth, commercial activity, and housing in specified areas.

The plan therefore operates across several land-use categories:

• Land use: the distribution and intended function of development areas.
• Transportation: the relationship between the town center and the movement of people and vehicles.
• Community facilities: the infrastructure and public-service framework supporting the designated area.
• Economic development: the policy basis for commercial activity and related investment.
• Environmental stewardship: the treatment of environmental considerations within the planning area.

The current document has remained in place for more than three decades. The source notes that master plans are typically updated roughly once a decade, making Huntingtown’s 32-year period without a revision unusually long. That gap increases the significance of the current policy review, but it does not establish what zoning changes will ultimately be adopted.

Countywide context and practical points to track

Huntingtown’s update is proceeding alongside similar updates for other town centers. A 2019 Comprehensive Plan amendment simplified the town-center categories into a single designation. A 2022 amendment limited areas eligible for future expansion to Huntingtown, Lusby, Prince Frederick, and Solomons.

That structure connects the Huntingtown process to broader county decisions on growth concentration and town-center expansion. It also means that public comments should be directed to specific provisions rather than general support or opposition. Relevant subjects include:

1. The proposed relationship between land use and transportation priorities.

2. The treatment of commercial and residential activity within the town center.

3. The handling of community facilities and environmental stewardship.

4. Any future zoning-option language and its effect on existing land uses.

5. Whether the updated plan remains consistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.

Residents and business owners can attend the September meeting, use the livestream, and submit comments directly to county planning staff. The county has indicated that public input will remain part of the process through future outreach.

The controlling point is procedural: Huntingtown’s master plan is being revised after an extended period without a full update, but the final land-use framework has not been established. Comments submitted during the continuing process may affect the plan’s direction; they should not be treated as evidence that a particular rezoning or expansion policy has already been approved.