After more than a year of review, the Westminster Planning and Zoning Commission voted in April 2026 to forward a favorable recommendation to the Mayor and Common Council for The Willows, a proposed 40-unit residential development at the southeast corner of Maryland Route 140 and Pennsylvania Avenue, near the overpass just east of Plum Crazy Diner.
The commission's vote on Zoning Map Amendment ZMA 24-01 sends the project to the Mayor and Common Council, where a vote is expected in June 2026. If approved, the project would still return to the Planning and Zoning Commission for site plan review before construction could begin.
What Is Being Proposed
The Willows, filed by D.R. Acquisitions LLC, proposes 40 residential units, configured as 20 two-over-two dwellings, on approximately 4.7 acres. The project requires a zoning map amendment to reclassify the property from R-7,500 residential to the Planned Development-9 (PD-9) zone.
A Long Road to This Vote
The project has been before the commission since 2024. A public hearing in October 2024 drew five neighbors who raised concerns about building height, density, stormwater management, traffic, and property values. The commission spent several subsequent meetings working through architectural revisions with the applicant before arriving at its recommendation.
Rather than settling on a single design, the commission forwarded two architectural options — Option A and Option B — to the Mayor and Common Council, leaving the elected body to choose between them.
One point of contention throughout the review was a corner element on the building, a projecting feature that the commission had pushed for and that was ultimately added to the design. At the April meeting, staff noted there was still discussion about whether that element should be white or a different material.
What Happens Next — and What Doesn't Change
Planning Director Mark Depo clarified at the April meeting that the Mayor and Common Council's approval would not lock in the final design. The ordinance before the council will include two exhibits — the site layout and whichever architectural option the council selects — but the Planning and Zoning Commission retains authority to refine the plans when the project returns for site plan review.
"You can still modify anything with that design and anything with the architecture within reason," Depo told the commission. Whatever the Planning and Zoning Commission ultimately approves at the site plan stage "has to be consistent with what is being provided and approved as part of those exhibits in the ordinance."
Open Space and a Fee in Lieu
One unresolved detail is open space. The Planned Development-9 zone requires that 20 percent of the net area be provided as common open space, and the code contemplates that the city would accept and maintain that space. But at The Willows, staff determined after meeting with the city's recreation and parks director that the open space, as configured, isn't large or usable enough for the city to take on.
The result: the homeowners’ association or governing entity for the development will maintain the open space itself and pay a fee-in-lieu to the city, calculated on a per-acre basis for the full 20 percent of the net area. The fee amount will be set at the time of site plan approval, meaning if the project takes another year to move through the process, the fee will be whatever the city's rate is at that point.
Depo noted the commission had handled open space the same way on at least one recent Westminster apartment project.
A Departure, Too
The April vote also marked the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting for Chair Tom Barrett, who submitted his resignation letter after being appointed to the Westminster Common Council. Barrett had served on the commission for roughly three years, during which time the panel worked through several of Westminster's largest development proposals in recent memory.
"We had debate and discussion, and we figured things out," Barrett said at the meeting. "That's what really matters, where you come out at the end of the day."
Because two members of the Common Council cannot simultaneously serve as ex officio members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Barrett's appointment to the council required his resignation from the commission. Councilmember Dan Hoff remains on the Planning and Zoning Commission as an ex officio member.
The April 16, 2026, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is available on the City of Westminster YouTube page. The Willows application documents, including ZMA 24-01, are available through the city's Planning and Zoning Commission page. Photos in this article come from public documents.