Bradley Brooke Denied
Split Vote Determines Verdict
Bradley Brooke, the proposed 223-unit residential development located off Willows Road, was denied by the Planning Commission on a 4-3 vote at their January 12th meeting. Breaking the usual 10pm cut off time, the meeting lasted over four hours as discussion focused on traffic, safety, and impacts to Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
Questions lingered from the previous meeting, including the need for a second entrance to the neighborhood. The St. Mary’s County Subdivision Ordinance “generally” requires subdivisions with more than 75 lots to have two entrances, but Bradley Brooke has only one. Chris Longmore, the project’s attorney, and Greg Hozendorf, project engineer, pointed to other developments in the county that didn’t meet this requirement. Those subdivisions, said Brandy Glenn, deputy director of Land Use & Growth Management, were approved prior to the 2002 ordinance being enacted.
Hozendorf suggested traffic could be routed through the parking lot of the commercial businesses fronting Willows Road in the event of an emergency, but admitted he had not spoken with business owners to determine if that was acceptable.
An updated traffic analysis was presented by Lenhart Traffic Consulting, with traffic counts conducted in December 2025 and an examination of intersections at MD 5/Willows Road and MD246/Shangri-La Drive. Data showed all intersections within the required level of service (LOS) per the county’s zoning ordinance. The ordinance requires Critical Lane Volume analysis to be a LOS D or higher for signalized intersections, while unsignalized intersections are assessed using the Highway Capacity Manual LOS numbers. That analysis showed a LOS E at the eastbound approach of Willows Rd and Hilton Drive/Abberly Crest Lane–meaning vehicles may wait longer to make turns because of increased traffic.
from Navy’s letter
Another point of contention was the proximity of 23 single family homes to the AICUZ noise contour. Those homes are in the 65-70 decibel noise area not recommended for development by the Navy. However, Longmore explained that because the county did not adopt changes from the Navy’s 2019 noise study, county law reflects that zone as the 60-65 decibel area which is permissible for development. Longmore stressed that the Navy makes recommendations about local zoning and does not outright prohibit development.
NAS PAX Commanding Officer Captain Mark Zematis could not say when the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone study would be ready, but suggested it would be sometime this spring. Planning Commissioner Joe St. Clair asked Longmore if his client would “go broke” if they had to wait a few months for the completed study. But the project had already been delayed by at least six months, said Longmore, causing his client to incur additional costs. St. Clair’s sentiment was shared by fellow Commissioners Joseph VanKirk and Patricia Robrecht, who said she didn’t believe the project promoted the “health, safety, and welfare of the public [because] there’s a home 50ft from the AICUZ.”
Planning Commissioner Joe St. Clair, from livestream
“I’ve never seen a Navy Commander come before the Planning Commission twice” about the same project, St. Clair remarked. Worried about retaliatory decisions being made given the “current climate in Washington D.C.,” and the “disconnect” of county government not adopting updated noise guidelines, St. Clair was against the project in its current form.
Three votes to approve–Howard Thompson, Gearld Cousineau, and Conor Loughran–weren’t enough with four against–Patricia Robrecht, Joe St. Clair, Joe VanKrik, and Lynn Delahay. The developer could now file with the county’s Board of Appeals seeking to overturn the Planning Commission’s decision.
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