County seeks state funding for shelter

Crossing guard and parking code updates passed by commissioners

During the first round of public hearings following their return from summer break, the Charles County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to approve an application by the county’s department of community services for a state grant to fund the continued operations of a homeless and domestic violence shelter in the county.

The $800,000 grant from the Maryland Community Development Block Grant Program would be used to help fund the operations of the Catholic Charities of Archdiocese of Washington’s Angel’s Watch family shelter in Charles County.

The facility, which was

reopened in a new and larger location in October, includes a community room, dining room, computer room, library, fitness room and playground. The new location is closer to county services as well as to health services and public transportation.

The vote to support the grant application by the county’s department of community services follows the commissioners’ decision in July to support a change to the county’s zoning regulations to allow homeless shelters to be operated in areas that are zoned for general industrial uses. La Plata-based nonprofit Life Styles of Maryland Inc. had sought the zoning change so that it could open a permanent homeless shelter in White

Plains.

The state grant program, which is administered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, distributes federal funds to support local programs that address urgent community health and welfare issues such as support for low- and moderate-income residents, economic development projects and the elimination of slums and blight.

Counties with populations below 200,000 are among the jurisdictions that are eligible to apply for community development funds through the state program. The competitive grants are awarded annually.

Amanda Chesney, Catholic Charities of Washington’s executive director of housing and homeless services, told the commissioners that the grant funds would be used to expand services that are

offered to residents of its family shelter.

Angel’s Watch serves women from all three Southern Maryland counties who are recovering from domestic abuse, homelessness and addiction. It offers counseling and workshops in self-sufficiency, budgeting and life skills.

Public safety code updates passed

During two other brief public hearings also held Sept. 10, the commissioners voted to approve changes to the county code that will formalize the Charles County Sheriff’s Office’s authority over school crossing guards and bring the county’s parking regulations into alignment with state law.

One of the code changes formally transfers the hiring authority for school crossing guards to the sheriff’s office. Until the change, the county code had continued to identify

the Board of Public Safety as having that responsibility, even though the board had been dissolved in the 1990s.

Under the revised parking regulations, drivers parking their cars on public roads must now park parallel to the curb rather than nose-in, as is often done in cul-de-sacs. The regulations now also make it illegal to park in front of a ramp designed for people with disabilities, on private property without the owner’s permission and on the travel

portion of any public road.

The updated code also includes definitions for “stopping” and “standing.” Stopping is defined as a momentary pause to avoid an accident or to comply with the directions of law enforcement or other officials directing traffic. Standing involves halting for a longer period of time, such as when picking up or dropping off passengers.

Language that specifies that it is illegal to park on a sidewalk or “[i]n such a manner as to block a sidewalk” was deleted from the revised code.

Sheriff’s office attorney Jerome Spencer had originally introduced the proposed changes in July during the commissioners’ final open session before adjourning for the summer. During Tuesday’s public hearings for the two proposed code changes, no members of the public signed up to support or oppose them, and the commissioners did not raise additional questions or concerns.