Updated: 4/15/2026

A developer has proposed to build a residential development on 100 acres of waterfront land adjacent to the Chester River on Kent Island, Maryland. The development sits within the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area entirely in an area classified as Resource Conservation Area (RCA). Passed in 1984, the goal of the Critical Area Act is to “foster more sensitive development activity for certain shoreline areas so as to minimize damage to water quality and natural habitats” protecting land within 1,000 feet of high tide or tidal wetlands. The RCA designation is the most protective and restrictive land use designation.  The proposed development will destroy valuable riparian habitat, disturb wetlands, and cause stormwater runoff directly to the Chester River.

In July 2024, the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners granted the developer’s Comprehensive Rezoning Request, voting to add the Chesterhaven Beach property to the Chester Growth Area.  This is the first step in the overall approval process to allow development at a density higher than permitted within the RCA of the Critical Area Act without the need for a growth allocation and in violation of the critical area law. 

CBF joined The Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, and local property owners and have filed three separate actions in the Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County. In the first case, we filed a Petition for Judicial Review challenging the July 2024 decision of the County Commissioners. In the second case, we challenged a written decision of the Queen Anne’s County Board of Appeals dismissing an administrative appeal file by CBF and our partners. In the third case we filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment against the Queen Anne’s County Board of County Commissioners. The Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays (CAC) moved to intervene in the litigation.  

A motions hearing was held in the challenge to the County Commissioner’s decision in April 2025 and the Court determined that the Commissioners’ decision was legislative and not subject to the Court’s jurisdiction and ultimately dismissed the case. In May 2025, the Court ruled in favor of Chesterhaven Beach and affirmed the decision of the Queen Anne’s County Board of Appeals. CBF and our partners appealed these decisions to the Appellate Court of Maryland and the cases are held in abeyance as litigation proceeds in the Declaratory Judgment action. Our Motion for Summary Judgement in the Declaratory Judgment was filed on August 15th and a hearing was held in the Circuit Court on November 10th. In a win for the Bay and everyone who would have been affected by the comprehensive rezoning, on December 5, 2025, the Circuit Court issued a Memorandum Opinion granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgement and holding that the Queen Anne’s County Board of County Commissioner’s decision to approve the rezoning request was in conflict with state law and ultimately void. Neither the County nor the developer appealed the Court’s decision. The appeals filed in the Appellate Court were dismissed.

CBF was represented in this matter by Litigation Staff Attorney, Sheronda Rose and the Vice President of Litigation, Paul Smail.