Reference No. CB-046-2025    Draft No.
Type: Council Bill Status: Second Reading
Meeting Body County Council
Meeting Date 4/29/2025
Introduced Date 6/10/2025 Public Hearing Date 07/08/2025 @ 10:00 AM
Effective date:    
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING WOODLAND AND WILDLIFE HABITAT CONSERVATION for the purpose of exempting certain applications from the applicability of the woodland conservation ordinance; providing for a standard letter of exemption for certain properties; modifying the requirements for certain development review division applications; modifying the alternatives for meeting conservation requirements on-site; modifying the threshold for fee-in-lieu usage; providing for credit for afforestation projects; revising the rate for fee-in-lieu credits; revising certain definitions; and revising the applicability of the tree canopy coverage ordinance.
Proposers/Sponsors: Krystal Oriadha, Wala Blegay, Wanika Fisher, Thomas E. Dernoga
Code sections: 25-118 - , 25-119 - , 25-120 - , 25-121 - , 25-122 - , 25-127 -
Attachments: 1. B2025046, 2. CB-046-2025 Summary, 3. CB-046-2025 Report, 4. CB-046-2025 PAFI, 5. CB-046-2025 M-NCPPC Comments, 6. CB-046-2025 M-NCPPC Attachments, 7. CB-046-2025 DoE Comments
Contact: Eric Irving, Fiscal and Legislative Specialist

Title

AN ACT CONCERNING WOODLAND AND WILDLIFE HABITAT CONSERVATION for the purpose of exempting certain applications from the applicability of the woodland conservation ordinance; providing for a standard letter of exemption for certain properties; modifying the requirements for certain development review division applications; modifying the alternatives for meeting conservation requirements on-site; modifying the threshold for fee-in-lieu usage; providing for credit for afforestation projects; revising the rate for fee-in-lieu credits; revising certain definitions; and revising the applicability of the tree canopy coverage ordinance.

 

Background

In furtherance of its policy to conserve and protect trees, tree canopy and woodlands, Prince George’s County Government adopted the Woodland and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Ordinance (Subtitle 25, Division 2). This ordinance sets forth standards and procedures governing site planning techniques and construction practices in an effort to protect sensitive environmental features for County residents and future generations. Following the passage of updates to the State Forest Conservation Act, the County adopted CB-020-2024 and CB-77-2024.

This bill modifies the woodland conservation ordinance by exempting residential development applications which propose to disturb less than 20,000 square feet of woodlands and provides for a standard letter of exemption for those projects. This bill also clarifies the definition for transit-oriented projects to capture those projects near rail stations which are afforded higher residential density. Additionally, this bill changes the application process for using alternative methods to meeting conservation requirements, first by substituting a priority statement for the variance process as well as adjusting the applicable exhaustion criteria. The bill also returns the fee-in-lieu assessment rate to those used prior to CB-020-2024 and removes the existing one-acre limit. Finally, the bill revises the grandfathering provisions in the tree canopy coverage ordinance to now include entitlement cases subject to the transitional provisions of the zoning ordinance.



Disclaimer Footer

Click here to read Terms and Conditions.

Terms and Conditions
1. Access to and use of the Prince George’s County Legislative Branch Services (hereinafter "Services") provided by the Legislative Branch of Prince George’s County is subject to the terms and conditions of this User Agreement and all applicable laws and regulations. This includes the laws and regulations governing copyright, trademark and other intellectual property as it may pertain to the property licensed to the County by GRANICUS. For the purposes of this User Agreement, the Legislative Branch of Prince George’s County shall be referred to as the "County", and you, the User, will be referred to as "You" (including the possessive "Your"), and the "User"

2. By reading this document and accessing the services, you accept without limitation or qualification, all of the terms and conditions in this user agreement. The County reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. Changes to the terms of this Agreement will only apply to future uses of the Services. Your continued use of this Site and these Services after the posting of updates to this Agreement, will constitute your agreement to those terms, as modified. The County additionally reserves the right to modify or discontinue, at any time, any Services, without notice or liability.

3. OWNERSHIP AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS. All of the products and Services, including but not limited to text, data, maps, images, graphics, trademarks, logos and service marks (collectively, the "Content"), are owned by the County or licensed to the County by GRANICUS, the owner of the Content. Although the County does not claim a copyright, trademark or other intellectual property interest in the Content, GRANICUS reserves their copyright, trademark or other intellectual property interests in their property that is part of the Content. In connection with those products and Services, you agree to the following: text, data, maps, images, graphics, trademarks, logos and service marks (collectively, the "Content"), are owned by the County or licensed to the County by third-parties who own the Content and the third party licensors' property interests are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. In connection with those products and Services, you agree to the following:

  • When accessing the Content, you may print a copy. If a printout and/or download is made, applicable third parties shall retain all rights in this material, and such a printout and/or download shall retain any copyright or other notices contained in that Content.
  • You will abide by restrictions set forth on the Site with respect to any of the Content.
  • You will not in any way violate the intellectual property laws protecting the third party licensors' property interests in the Content.
  • You will not reuse, republish or otherwise distribute the Content or any modified or altered versions of it, whether over the Internet or otherwise, for profit or personal gain, without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
  • You will cooperate promptly and completely with any reasonable request by the County related to an investigation of infringement of copyright or other proprietary right of the third party licensor.
  • You agree that the material you are accessing contains the trade secrets and intellectual property of GRANICUS, and you will cause irreparable harm to GRANICUS if this material is used in violation of this agreement.

4. INDEMNIFICATION: You hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless the County, and its respective officials, agencies, officers, subsidiaries, employees, licensors and agents, from and against any and all liability, loss, claims, damages, costs and/or actions (including attorneys' fees) based upon or arising out of any breach by you or any third party of the obligations under this Agreement. Notwithstanding your indemnification obligation, the County reserves the right to defend any such claim and you agree to provide us with such reasonable cooperation and information as we may request.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: The County makes every effort to update this information on a daily basis. Because Property information is continually changing, the County makes no expressed or implied warranty concerning the accuracy of this information.

  • The information and services and products available to you may contain errors and are subject to periods of interruption. The County will do its best to maintain the information and services it offers. You agree that all use of these services is at your own risk, and that the County will not be held liable for any errors or omissions contained in the content of its services.

The services are provided “as is” and the County expressly disclaims any and all warranties, express and implied, including but not limited to any warranties of accuracy, reliability, title, merchantability, non-infringement, fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, condition, guarantee or representation whether oral, in writing or in electronic form, including but not limited to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained therein or provided by the services. The County does not represent or warrant that access to the service will be interrupted or that there will be no failures, errors or omissions or loss of transmitted information. The information, documents and related graphics published on this server could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. The County may make improvements and/or changes in the services provided and/or the content described herein at any time.

This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury caused by any failure of performance error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer viruses, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to alteration of or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence or any other cause of action. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from the County or through or from the service shall create any warranty not expressly stated in this agreement. If you are dissatisfied with the service, or any portion thereof, your exclusive remedy shall be to stop using the service.

  • MISCELLANEOUS: The County has the right at any time to change or discontinue any aspect or feature of the services, including, but not limited to, content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use. You must use the services for lawful purposes only.

Any user conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the services will not be permitted. Uses such as data mining, screen scraping and the use of electronic BOTS for image download are prohibited. Users that are found to be employing the previously mentioned electronic methods may be restricted on this website.

These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of the State of Maryland, USA, and you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of Prince George’s County, State of Maryland. If any portion of these terms and conditions is deemed by a court to be invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, and claim or cause of action arising out of or related to the use of these services, must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose.

This is an offer to provide Services, and acceptance is expressly conditioned upon your acceptance of these terms and only these terms. Your acceptance of this Agreement is demonstrated by checking the box of "I agree to the Terms of Use" in the Registration form. This Agreement represents the entire agreement between you (the user) and the County.