Council directs staff to prepare approval resolutions for Port Town sector plan after Planning Board revisions

Emily Lutz, project manager for the Port Town Sector Plan, presented Planning Board revisions and the results of public review, saying, "For the record, I'm Emily Lutz, project manager for the Port Town Sector Plan." She summarized public input (25 written submissions, five speakers at the joint hearing) and explained the Planning Board’s recommendation to retain a neighborhood center transition area while removing some proposed rezoning pending the county's missing-middle housing study.

Lutz told the council that opponents raised five categories of concern: confusion about the transition area's purpose, fears of displacement and tax increases, parking and traffic impacts, infrastructure strain, and incompatibility with neighborhood scale. She described staff measures to address those issues, including reliance on zoning design standards and encouragement of active transportation to ease parking and traffic pressure.

Deputy project manager Arnaldo Ruiz reviewed the proposed neighborhood center boundary and noted mixed testimony: supporters cited potential for investment and mixed-use development while some property owners opposed NEC zoning for portions of the area that host industrial uses. Ruiz said existing industrial businesses could continue operating as nonconforming uses if the NEC zoning is adopted. He also described incorporation of a University of Maryland PALS cultural-heritage trail, online appendices with deliverables, and wayfinding recommendations to be finalized through additional public participation.

After the presentations and a brief question-and-answer exchange — which included council members asking about renderings near the Peace Cross and whether Chesapeake Bay Critical Area overlays would change — the council moved to direct staff to prepare an order/resolution supporting the sector plan and a separate resolution for the sectional map amendment. The clerk recorded roll-call votes: the motions to prepare both resolutions carried ("Motion carries 6 0 1"); Councilmember Adams abstained on the first Port Town motion, citing his appointment to the Critical Area Commission and an ethics review that allowed him to remain.

Next steps: staff indicated a planned final district council action in October 2026; the council directed staff to draft the formal resolutions for future consideration.