As previously reported on Conduit Street, Charles County recently approved a septic tier map different from that recommended by a work group assembled for the task.  The approved plan includes half of an  18,000-acre deferred development district in the Mattawoman Creek watershed in a tier allowing future growth on septic systems.  A March 27 SoMdNews.com article reported that Maryland Secretary of Planning Richard Hall has sent a letter to the County Commissioners recommending that they reconsider the inclusion of the 9,000 acres.

In his letter, Hall called the plan “a significant improvement” over the map drawn by the pro-growth Balanced Growth Initiative and approved by the Charles County Planning Commission in November 2012, but he wrote that the 9,000-acre tract was unnecessary to meet the county’s growth projections and potentially would harm the Mattawoman. …

Hall noted in his letter that the county has more than twice the land zoned for development needed to meet its growth needs by 2040. More than 62,000 acres are mapped with current or future sewer areas on the approved plan, more than that total area of either Washington, D.C., or Baltimore, both of which have populations more than four times that of Charles County, he wrote.  …

In addition, “The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has significant concerns that extensive development within the Mattawoman Creek Watershed will irreparably harm this water body, which supports a diverse, high-quality aquatic ecosystem,” Hall wrote. Ninety-three percent of the 9,000 acres is located within the watershed.