St. Mary's County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan

Chapter 1: Introduction
SMC Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
The ultimate form of the Town of Leonardtown at build-out will likely be largely defined by McIntosh Run,
Town Run and Breton Bay as its western, eastern and southern edges respectively. Uses adjacent to
these bodies of water should continue to be buffered to minimize the impact of land disturbances and
activity on water quality and wildlife habitat.
This plan element, the plan’s Sensitive Areas Element and the plans Water Resources Element all
recognize each of these water resources as sensitive areas. The Town’s goal is to preserve and
enhance its streams and buffers. Improving storm water management in developed areas is also critical,
including the use of retrofit to address existing problem areas, and providing incentives for developers
constructing new storm water management structures to address areas that currently do not have such
structures.
The Town will continue to prohibit new development within stream buffers and will prohibit alteration of
streambeds or stream banks, except for Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce erosion or
stabilization.
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The Leonardtown Comprehensive Plan’s “Water Resources Plan Element” (WRE) is a new plan element
added to the Comprehensive Plan. This plan element is mandated to assure compliance with the
requirements of Maryland House Bill 1141 (HB 1141). The purpose of the WRE is to provide additional
layers of planning for water resources in relation to existing use and proposed land use, based on an
analysis of growth and development trends to assure that demands for water supply, wastewater
treatment and storm water management can be satisfied as Town growth occurs and to assure adequate
measures are taken to minimize impacts to water quality. Page 12-19
Water Resources Goal and Objectives
The Water Resources Goal for Leonardtown is:
To maintain a safe and adequate water supply and adequate capacities for wastewater treatment to
serve projected growth at sustainable levels; to take steps to protect and restore water quality; and to
meet water quality regulatory requirements in the Breton Bay Watershed.
Objectives to Support this Goal are:
• Assure that existing and planned public water systems meet projected demand in a
sustainable fashion.
• Assure that existing and planned public wastewater collection and treatment systems meet
projected demand without exceeding their permitted capacity.
• Assure that the Town’s storm water management policies reflect the most recent state
requirements, and require Low Impact Development (LID) practices that utilize Environmental
Site Design (ESD) principles for managing storm water in both new development and by
existing homeowners.
• Maintain land use patterns that limit adverse impacts on water quality.
• Continue to focus growth to areas best suited to utilize the existing and planned water and
wastewater infrastructure efficiently and sustainable.
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Streams and their Buffers
Breton Bay and the major streams in Leonardtown are shown on the sensitive areas map in the
Leonardtown Critical Areas Program. Preservation of natural land and vegetation along a stream
provides a buffer that protects the stream from sediment, phosphorous, and other runoff pollutants. Major
tributary streams to Breton Bay include Macintosh Run and Town Run.
Floodplains
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