9840 Garden Ranges, Laurel, MD 20723

Planned Employment Center-Mixed Use-3 District

The PEC District is established to provide for comprehensively planned employment centers combining research and development, office, light manufacturing and assembly, limited commercial and other enumerated uses. It is intended that this district provide higher standards of development and a more flexible approach to design and development than could be achieved under conventional zoning districts. It is further the purpose of this district to: Provide for orderly development of large-scale, comprehensively planned employment centers; Provide for open areas to act as buffers between incompatible uses and as design elements which will achieve the physical and aesthetic integration of the uses and activities within each development; and Provide a landscaped, campus-like setting for employment in which the various uses relate compatibly with one another according to a comprehensive plan of development for an entire district.; The Mixed Use Districts are established to permit flexible and efficient use of large parcels at key locations by combining housing, employment, local commercial and open space uses in accordance with a unified design. Appropriate locations for the MXD Districts will be characterized by availability of public utilities, good access to collector or arterial highways, and potential access to public transit facilities. The phasing of development in the MXD Districts is to be concurrent with the phasing of required road improvements and is to result in a mix of land uses at the earliest feasible stage of development.; The MXD Districts provide for well-designed communities which are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods and protective of the natural elements of the landscape.; A Mixed Use Development is intended to include a planned network of open space which includes environmental areas, recreation areas, and public plazas or squares; a diversity of housing types at medium to high densities; and convenient pedestrian access between uses.; Two MXD Districts are established: the MXD-3 Districts. The two districts allow differing intensities of land use in order to ensure that mixed use developments are compatible with surrounding land uses. A Mixed Use Development shall contain at least one focal point: an area of diverse, integrated land uses, designed to create a distinct focus for the development. Focal points should be scaled and oriented to pedestrian movement and should incorporate public transit access if available.; The MXD District regulations promote and allow planning innovation and design flexibility. Each plan submission for an MXD District must incorporate design considerations at an appropriate level of detail for the submission stage. A public hearing is required at the Preliminary Development Plan and Comprehensive Sketch Plan stages of the plan review process, to ensure adequate opportunity for public comment.