Carroll County Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting – February 6, 2026

The Carroll County Planning & Zoning Commission met at 6:00 PM in the Reagan Room, with four members present and a quorum established. The meeting covered a joint Water Resource Element public hearing, a final site plan approval for EVAPCO, and a master plan work session on the adopted vision and goals. Note: The printed agenda is dated February 4, 2026, while the supplied meeting timestamp is February 6, 2026; this summary uses the supplied meeting date.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No members of the public offered comment during the Water Resource Element public hearing.
• No public comments were offered on the EVAPCO final site plan.
• No general public comments were offered later in the meeting.
• Staff noted that one member of the public attended the January 14 public information session on the Water Resource Element.

Discussion Items

Water Resource Element (Public Hearing)

• Staff presented the 2024 Water Resource Element (WRE), mandated by Maryland House Bill 1141. The WRE is a single document prepared jointly by the county and all eight municipalities to show opportunities and limitations for water resources and to inform future comprehensive plans.
• The draft was available for public review starting November 15; state agencies and adjacent jurisdictions received it for a 60-day review. State comments were received January 20.
• All town planning commissions had held public hearings except Taneytown and Mount Airy, whose hearings were scheduled for February 23.
• Manchester and New Windsor Planning Commission members attended and introduced themselves. Staff recommended leaving the record open through February 23 because two town hearings would still take comments until that date.
• Staff said that after comments are reviewed, staff recommendations on revisions will go to all planning commissions for their own decisions.

EVAPCO Contractor Storage Yard – Final Site Plan

• Staff planner David Becraft presented; Jim Matthias of Development Design Consultants represented the applicant.
• The proposal is a 3-acre outdoor storage yard for equipment prior to shipment, located on the middle 54-acre parcel of a 78-acre property east of Crouse Mill Road and west of Allendale Lane (Tax Map 19, Grid 19, Parcel 389). The property is outside the Priority Funding Area but inside the Taneytown designated growth area.
• The use is a conditional use in agriculture zoning, approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals on September 26, 2023. The approval conditions include no lighting, hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday with occasional Saturday work, and no manufacturing on site.
• Traffic impact studies were not required. The plan includes a 25-foot paved access drive crossing a stream. Floodplain management and water resources variances were approved. The developer will upgrade an existing culvert under Crouse Mill Road to three culverts.
• Stormwater management will use three submerged gravel wetlands. A forest conservation easement is proposed on the EVAPCO property across Crouse Mill Road. State and federal permits have been issued.
• Staff recommended approval subject to the eight conditions in the staff report. The commission approved the plan 4–0.

Master Plan Work Session: Vision and Goals

• Staff reviewed the adopted master plan's vision statement and all 15 goals for possible updates. This portion was discussion only and not a public comment session.
• Commissioners generally supported keeping the vision statement as working text.
• Goal 1 (interjurisdictional coordination): Commissioners said 'communication and coordination' was too passive and asked for stronger language about active engagement, mutual support, and joint problem-solving. They cited examples such as the Manchester bypass, Taneytown traffic, and municipal water/sewer needs, and asked the plan to identify specific challenges.
• Goal 3 (water quality): Commissioners supported keeping the goal broad and consistent with the WRE.
• Goal 5 (transportation): Commissioners felt the broad language should remain, while noting the county's transit system is difficult to serve given the county's geography.
• Goal 6 (housing): Commissioners called housing affordability a major priority and asked for deeper work on recommendations, including nontraditional housing types such as modular or container homes, mixed-income development, and coordination with municipalities because water and sewer capacity is largely in towns. Some commissioners stressed avoiding subsidization and preventing slum conditions.
• Goals 7 and 8 (agricultural preservation): A commissioner urged a more strategic approach to preserving agricultural land, saying the county should fill in existing preserved blocks and priority preservation areas. The commission discussed merging the two goals. The county is at roughly 75,000 preserved acres, with a goal of preserving at least 100,000 acres.
• Goal 9 (parks): No substantive change was proposed.
• Goal 10 (heritage): Commissioners suggested adding 'promote and enhance' to 'preserve.'
• Goals 11 and 12 (environment/minerals): No material changes were proposed.
• Goal 13 (economic development): Commissioners requested objective economic development metrics and strategic site identification, such as the highway corridor near Mount Airy, with county-municipal coordination.
• Goals 14 and 15 (development pattern): Commissioners supported the existing growth-management direction. They also asked whether broadband and energy should be added as topics, with energy potentially deserving its own section.

Key Outcomes

• Agenda approved; administrative report had no matters.
• Water Resource Element hearing record left open until February 23, 2026, by each commission: Carroll County 4–0, Manchester P&Z by voice vote, New Windsor P&Z by voice vote.
• EVAPCO Contractor Storage Yard final site plan approved 4–0, subject to the eight conditions in the staff report.
• Master Plan work session was discussion only; staff will draft revised goal language based on commissioner input and return with it at a future meeting.
• Next meetings: February 17, 2026, at 9:00 AM and March 4, 2026, at 6:00 PM.