The Charles County Planning Commission is holding the record open until March 12 on a proposal by St. John Properties LLC to amend some conditions of the master plan for the proposed Waldorf Crossing mixed-use development that will span both sides of U.S. 301 in northern Waldorf near the Prince George’s County line.
The planning commission decided to keep the record open for 45 days after a public hearing held last month at which only a few people spoke to allow residents sufficient time to send in comments regarding the proposed amendments to the master plan. Waldorf Crossing will include residential, retail and office uses on 140 acres that will span both sides of U.S. 301. The land is in the transit-oriented development zone, adopted by the Charles County commissioners in 2004, that allows a dense mix of high-rise apartments, condominiums and office buildings.
The TOD zone was created to allow high density development to encourage walking, bicycling and the use of mass transit.
The few residents who spoke at the Jan. 26 hearing mainly shared a concern about the amount of traffic the proposed project would generate, particularly along Mattawoman Beantown Road near the Pinefield subdivision.
A few other people spoke in favor of the proposal, saying such dense development should remain in the county’s urban core that includes Waldorf and White Plains.
The proposed changes to the master plan include the developer — who is working with Francis H. Chaney II, chairman of the board of Chaney Enterprises in Waldorf — dropping plans to build 123 single-family homes and reducing the number of townhouses from 129 to 88 units, according to county planners. In addition, the developer wants to increase the number of apartment and condominium units from 546 to 698.
Other proposed changes include reducing the minimum square footage for townhouses in Waldorf Crossing from 2,000 to 1,650 square feet.
Once the record closes on the proposal, the planning commission will hold a work session and forward a recommendation on whether to approve the master plan amendments to the county commissioners.
The commissioners will hold a public hearing and a work session before rendering a decision.
Comments can be mailed to the Charles County Planning Department, P.O. Box 2150, La Plata, MD 20646 or send an e-mail to swagner@charlescounty.org.
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