STEVENSVILLE — New places to live and spend the weekend could be coming to Kent Island as the Queen Anne’s County Planning Commission approved a concept plan for an apartment duplex and hotel mixed-use development April 11.
Bay Bridge Marina LLLP is seeking to create a mixed-use development including 28 residential duplex units, and a 32-room hotel for a total of 28,700 square feet of floor area in the existing site that includes Libby’s Restaurant.
Located on Kent Island just east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at the end of Pier One Road in Stevensville, existing uses on the 55,073 square feet site includes Libby’s Restaurant, two office buildings, a marina, and a boat repair facility, according to county Principal Development Review Planner Rob Gunther.
Two existing office buildings on the property are proposed to be demolished, he said.
The existing marina parcel will be subdivided to accommodate the residential units as well as a 1.6 acre lot for the hotel, Gunther said.
The proposed project is a modified concept plan from what was previously brought before the planning commission in 2023, Gunther said.
The previous concept plan approved for this development included 174 apartments and more than 60,000 square feet of new commercial floor space, according to Gunther.
The area has since been rezoned making the previous plan no longer valid, he said.
The project has greatly reduced its water usage request since its last application, according to Walt Petrie, developer general manager.
The property is located within the Chester-Steveville growth area, an enterprise zone and within the priority funding area, Gunther said.
The modified concept plan has been in the works for about six months and project officials have met with county planning staff, the parks department and other agencies to review amenities, Kevin Shearon, civil engineer with DMS and Associates, LLC said.
As the current zoning of the property is in the Airport Protection and Kent Island Gateway District, discussion will continue with the airport regarding building height analysis and requirements, he said.
Hotel rooms and duplexes are in demand and the area will appeal to buyers out near their boats, according to Alan Hyatt, counsel to Bay Bridge Marina. “We think it’s an interesting mix-use community that should be well received by the market,” he said.
The project is estimated to bring less traffic than originally forecast due to the elimination of about 18,000 square feet of office space, Hyatt said.
Acknowledging the mixed uses that share the parking spaces, the planning commission granted the project’s request for a reduction of 56 parking spaces from the code’s required 418 non-residential parking spaces. Parking requirements for site businesses such as the boat storage facility are based on square footage and do not necessarily need that much parking, Gunther said.
With the modified concept plan approved, the Bay Bridge Marina duplex dwellings and hotel project next seeks sewer water allocation and an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance study to address traffic and school capacities to begin the site plan process.
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