The County Commission, following the lead of the Critical Area Commission, granted conditional approval for the growth allocation in April.

K. Hovnanian of Maryland, a subsidiary of New Jersey-based K. Hovnanian Companies, is proposing a total of 1,350 dwelling units on the 562-acre site that straddles the Stevensville and Chester community plans on both Cox Creek and the Chester River.

The concept plan also includes a main thoroughfare and a system of private roads, a 27,000-square-foot community center, pocket parks linked by trails, and an assisted-living care facility. The developer has also agreed to contribute to off-site improvements for streets, roads, water and sewer facilities as well as a regional park.

During the two-hour discussion at the regular June meeting of the planning commission, the planning staff, representatives of the developer and other county officials responded to comments by several residents who live near the development. The comments ranged from criticism about the size of multifamily structures to impact on the county's debt.

Although there have been several meetings among residents of Bayside, Castle Marina and Queen's Landing with representatives of the developer about placement of the multifamily buildings, Bill Webster and Kit Davis still had complaints. They pointed out that the four-story (55-feet) high fourplexes were still much larger in relative size than multifamily buildings and homes in the existing neighborhoods.

Three of the 25 conditions deal with this problem. One requires the developer to increase the setback for multifamily buildings on the Bayside property line as well as create landscaped berms on the property lines of all three neighborhoods.

The number and placement of the multifamily structures is one of the major changes in the revised concept plan revealed by the developer at the June meeting. Multifamily structures are now placed at three locations on the site outside of the shore buffers, although several are within "sightlines" of the existing neighborhoods.

Planning staffers and representatives of the builder explained that the four-story multi-family structures with garages on the ground floor, reduce the footprint of the building and make parking lots unnecessary, thus adding to landscaped areas around the buildings.

This kind of design allows the builder to reduce the amount of impervious area, which also includes footprints for streets, the community center and single-family homes, for the entire development - a requirement under Critical Area regulations.

Mike Koval, one of the most vociferous critics of Four Seasons, suggested that any future action on the development be tabled because it involved the first developers agreement that the county will create.

"Well, there has to be a first one," said commission legal counsel Chris Drummond. He also pointed out that it has not been until the late 1990s in Maryland that such agreements became possible because of action by the state Legislature and individual counties. Developers agreements have been common in many states for the past century.

Koval also suggested that any future Four Seasons actions be tabled until the development's possible effect on long-term county indebtedness was determined, but County financial officer Joseph Zimmerman said that increased bond indebtedness would not raise local tax bills. "Impact fees and service fees are used to pay off bond indebtedness that are used to create funding for such projects as water towers and sewage plants," he said. "This project would not increase anybody's taxes."

Koval and Richard Moser criticized the lack of 300-foot shore buffers for the entire project, but county staffers and commission chairman James Foor, a member of the Critical Area Commission, said that state law only requires a 100-foot buffer. Shore buffers for Four seasons range from 300 foot on Cox and Macum Creeks and a tidal pond on the Chester River to 150 feet in other areas.

Although a 1987 county ordinance can require a 300-foot buffer, county director of planning Steven Kaii-Zeigler said that same ordinance also allow many ways to reduce this buffer and even make development on smaller parcels buffer-exempt.

"And with five separate developers we would not get the one we now have with such environmental sensitivity," Foor said of changes that have made 42 percent of the Four Seasons property either buffer zones, open space or parks.

In response to another resident's comment, Kaii-Ziegler said that priority funding areas, needed for state matching funds for infrastructure improvements, are pre-mapped and determined on an as-needed basis.

Commission member Loring Hawes wondered if some retail component could replace the 90,000-square-foot center that had been eliminated by developer, but he learned that this could not be accomplished without changing the formal conditions of the growth allocation.

It was suggested by developer's representative that a "general store" operation could be part of the institutional uses for the community center, thus avoiding the need for a designated site.

While a condition for growth allocation approval requires 27.5 acres of parkland dedicated to the county, only slightly more than six will be on the Four Seasons site, which drew criticism from one resident.

Chairman Foor responded by supporting an off-site location so that the county could get a park "where it is needed." Centreville attorney Joe Stevens, who represents K. Hovnanian of Maryland, said that the firm has received several offers for sites, but the county will ultimately determine where the remaining 21 acres will be located.

Other key changes in the revised concept plan for Four Seasons include:

* Overall reduction of 155 dwelling units. The current 1,350 total includes 930 single-family homes (an addition of 97) and 420 multi-family units (a reduction of 252).

* In addition to eliminating the shopping center from the Bell Property at the southern end of the development, 19 multifamily buildings were removed. That property now will have a separate entrance for single-family lots and four multi-family dwellings. The assisted care center will have a separate entrance on Piney Creek Road.

* Shore buffers were widened on Macum Creek, the tidal pond and the entire Chester River frontage, increasing that acreage by 19. More than 120 acres of these buffers will be forested.

Ken Schmid of Traffic Concepts said that baseline trips for the Four Seasons developed were slightly increased as a result of looking at similar developments. Even with the great reduction in traffic volume because the retail center was eliminated, the builder will widen the traffic circle at State Route 18 and Castle Marina Road and create a new intersection at the main entrance to Four Seasons one-quarter mile to the north. The developer will also build a raised walkway where the Cross-Island Trail intersects with Castle Marina Road. Four Seasons traffic could also result in improvements to other off-site intersections, he said.

While there is one main entrance to Four Seasons, there will be three other "crash-gate" entrances to the development for emergency vehicle access. In addition the developer has two possible sites for other neighborhood entrances, but their implementation depends on development on adjacent properties on the west side of the Hovnanian property.

A proposed pier near the community center will be the only pier for residents' use. It will not be a full-service marina, but will be a dock for transient watercraft as well as general water access.