town of mount airy - Maryland Department of Planning

Downtown Land Use and Development
The last ten years have yielded a slow transition of business uses in the Mount Airy
Downtown district. The building structures, including significant building structures such
the old firehouse and the old municipal town hall building, are still intact and
significantly unaltered from their original architecture. The slowness of this transition
has assisted in a way that ensures the protection of individual building integrity. Lately,
in the last five years, there has been a trend toward renovating the interior of these
downtown buildings and occupying them with specialty stores that
provide specialty retail goods and crafts for the regional market.
There have been discussions referring to a mix-used commercial
zone that may help stimulate additional redevelopment in the
downtown area.
Review of Existing Zoning Categories
The residential zoning classifications were updated during the last
Master Plan Update and have functioned according to the intentions behind how the
zones were structured. All of the zoning categories have been utilized within the last five
years and have resulted in designs that were in compliance with the zone.
CON- Conservation Zone (newly adopted zone): This zone was adopted to allow for a
very low-density district (minimum of 3 acres per home site overall). This zone would be
strictly limited in use to certain environmentally sensitive areas. The minimum lot size in
this zone would be 24,000 square feet with an average of 40,000 square feet. It is meant
to provide maximum protection to the outlying residential areas surrounding the Town. It
will not be used as a “stand alone” zone except where recommended to address specific
environmental concerns.
RE- Residential Existing: This zone was designed and functions to represent the majority
of existing town low and medium density development. The minimum lot size for this
zoning classification is 14,000 square feet, with an average of 18,000 square feet. The
zone is designated in the core area of town along Main Street, North Main Street Area,
Park Ave, and Ridge Ave. It is also designated in the western portion of Mount Airy and
includes all of Twin Ridge, Village Gate, Mount Airy Village East and West and the
Westridge Subdivision.
R1- Low Density Residential (newly adopted zone): This zoning designation was recently
adopted to allow the provision of low-density development potential with concentration
on good land management and harmony with the physical environment. This zoning
classification allows a minimum area of 18,000 square feet with an average of 24,000
square feet. This zoning classification has not been assigned to any land areas within the
municipal limits, but may be used alone or in conjunction with other residential densities
on larger tracts of land.
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