Minor Site Plan

A Minor Site Plan is for proposals that result in a total floor area (existing and proposed) of equal to or less than 10,000 square feet.

Other minor site plans include outside areas used for sales, storage, or display related to a commercial use and projects in any County business park. Less often are planned residential development with 5 or fewer dwelling units.

Typically, minor site plans are approved and signed by the Planning & Zoning Director. In certain cases, minor site plans may be referred to the Planning Commission either by the Director or by request of the applicant. In all cases, when a minor site plan is located along MD Route 50/301 on Kent Island and in Grasonville, it will be sent to the Planning Commission for approval.

Site plans in general cover all commercial, industrial, and institutional use proposals. Multi-family residential proposals (planned residential development) are also considered site plans.

There are exemptions to the site plan approval process which you may find on the Site Plan Exemption page.

Site plans have the option to incorporate development rights (Transfer Development Rights - TDRs) in order to increase floor area and/or impervious surface area beyond that otherwise permitted in some zoning districts.

Forest conservation is almost always required for a site plan. Even though a project may be "exempt", certain documentation is still required. Please refer to the Forest Conservation Act page for more information on what may be required for your submittal.

Process

In some zoning districts, a pre-application conference with staff is required before submitting a site plan application. Regardless of this requirement, staff recommends a meeting to go over any questions or concerns about a proposal before submittal.

Please open and download all the paperwork, so that you may be able to submit and file a complete application.