Planning commission recommends craft alcohol zoning, mining amendment
Public hearing for chapter addition to comprehensive plan scheduled for July 24
During a brief public hearing Monday evening, the Charles County Planning Commission unanimously approved forwarding to the Board of County Commissioners a zoning amendment designed to encourage craft brewers, distillers and winemakers to set up shop in Charles County.
The planning commission also approved sending to the county commissioners a new chapter for the 2016 Comprehensive Plan that could bring an end to a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Watershed Conservation District.
County agricultural business
development manager Martin Proulx unveiled the long-anticipated proposal for changes to the county’s zoning code earlier this month.
The current zoning language provides only minimal definitions for distilleries and wineries and limits breweries to industrially zoned areas. Furthermore, it does not address tasting rooms, which are common features of craft beverage facilities.
The new language classifies craft distilleries, breweries and wineries into two broad categories and deletes regulatory language that is already covered by state alcohol law.
If the new zoning is adopted, farm-based alcohol production would be permitted with conditions in agricultural and rural conservation areas and in the Watershed Conservation District.
Non-farm alcohol production would be allowed in commercial, business and retail zones, as well as in the new Hughesville Village core and gateway zones.
A study released last October by Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot’s office reported that in 2016 the state’s craft breweries employed 430 people, generated $28.4 million in labor income, and contributed $143.7 million to the state’s economy. Numbers for craft distilleries were not available because of the comparatively small scale of that industry.
Late in the recent General
Assembly session that ended in early April, the House Economic Matters Committee voted to reject Franchot’s proposal to ease restrictions on craft beer production and distribution in the state.
No one signed up to speak at the public hearing either in support of or opposition to the proposed changes. No written comments had been submitted to the planning commission prior to the hearing.
The second public hearing of the evening focused on the incorporation of a new chapter in the county’s comprehensive plan supporting “the extraction and processing of mineral resources and related operations.”
The state’s land use code requires county comprehensive plans to include a “mineral resources element” that identifies undeveloped land that “can be used to assist in providing a continuous supply of minerals” other than coal.
The mineral resources element must also identify possible uses for land once mining activities have been completed, and spell out policies and regulations that balance mining with other land uses.
In December, La Plata-based concrete manufacturer Bardon Inc., which does business as Aggregate Industries, and the Maryland Transportation and Builders Materials Association filed a lawsuit against the county over the absence of mineral mining access in the comprehensive plan and the zoning regulations that established the WCD.
Without a mineral resources element, Aggregate
Industries and MTBMA argue, the county should be prohibited from enforcing the terms of the WCD.
A trial has been scheduled for December in the Circuit Court for Charles County while the county and the company that filed the suit continue to negotiate a settlement, which includes the adoption of the mineral resources element into the comprehensive plan.
Timothy Brevard of Aggregate Industries testified in support of the mineral resources chapter and suggested that it include language that explicitly encouraged prior to land development.
Brevard noted that sand and gravel, the mineral resources that are most commonly mined in Charles County, are essential for the construction of roads, sidewalks and building foundations.
“Once you develop land without mining, you can’t go back and get [the mineral resources],” Brevard said.
Kyle Murray of Chaney Enterprises, a concrete and aggregate manufacturer in Gambrills, also testified in support of the mineral resources chapter, noting that surface mining provides long-term, well-paying jobs and noted that his company has a strong safety and environmental record in the county.
During its open session the following day, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved scheduling a public hearing of its own for the mineral resources chapter, following the recommendation of the planning commission.