Kent Island Sewer Allocation Cap: What It Means for Buyers

Two vacant lots in the same South Kent Island sewer phase can carry sewer charges about $25,600 apart. Under a Queen Anne's County resolution effective April 1, 2025, a vacant Phase 4 lot with a valid state-approved perc test is assessed $2,320. A lot without one is assessed $27,920, which is the same $2,320 base plus a $25,600 economic-benefit premium. Both amounts can be financed over 20 years at 1%. The difference comes from the county's view of what public sewer is worth to each lot. A lot that could already support a septic system gains little from the connection. A lot that couldn't support one gains a buildable future.

The rest of Kent Island now runs on the same logic. Queen Anne's County's temporary residential building moratorium expired on August 12, 2026. It was replaced by a rule that limits how much new housing the island's wastewater plant can take on each year. A buyer looking at portal prices on Kent Island is looking at a market where new supply is metered by the gallon.

The Cap Works Out to Roughly 60 Homes a Year

At their August 11 meeting, the Commissioners set an annual residential sewer allocation cap of 15,000 gallons per day, effective January 1, 2027. The recorded votes on the cap and on the effective date were each 4–1. One unit detail is worth knowing. The staff memo and the vote record describe the cap as 15,000 gallons per year, and the county's public release describes it as 15,000 gallons per day added each year. This post uses the release's wording.

The county has given its own way to turn gallons into houses. In April, the Moratorium Task Force floated a cap of 10,000 gallons per day each year, which the county said "equates to approximately 40 new homes annually." That works out to about 250 gallons per home. At that rate, the adopted 15,000 gallons covers about 60 new homes a year. The same rate matches the moratorium itself. It applied to residential projects needing more than 1,750 gallons per day, which the resolution equated to about seven single-family allocations.

The cap covers the Kent Narrows/Stevensville/Grasonville sewer area. The moratorium also covered the Prospect Bay, Cloverfields, Bay City and Southern Kent Island subdistricts.

Most of the New Capacity Is Already Spoken For

The cap would matter less if the plant had a lot of spare room. It doesn't. In June 2026 the county secured a re-rating of its wastewater treatment plant that adds 300,000 gallons per day. About 150,000 gallons per day remained from the plant's 2007 expansion to 3,000,000 gallons. Here is how the draft Water and Sewer Allocation Policy divides it:

Residential use gets 150,000 of the roughly 450,000 gallons per day, about one-third of the total. At 250 gallons per home, that is about 600 homes. At 60 homes a year, it lasts about a decade. Under the draft, the buffer stays separate, and residential or commercial capacity left over from the older pool would roll into the re-rating allotments. Any of these numbers can be changed later by amending the policy. In February, County Administrator Todd Mohn said the re-rating "will most likely be the extent of the capacity."

Commissioner Jack Wilson said the cap is meant to make the capacity last. "We don't know what the county may need five, ten, or even twenty years from now, and it's important that we don't use all of our available capacity too quickly."

What the Cap Leaves Alone

The cap limits how fast new subdivisions and larger projects can add homes. It leaves several kinds of property outside it, and those are the ones that hold their value under the cap. County material on the moratorium said standalone commercial projects, homes on existing lots of record, and incorporated towns were outside it. The resolution also exempted projects that already had a sewer allocation. The staff memo also says any residential allocation granted before January 1, 2027 is not counted against the cap.

So the next few years of new homes on the island are mostly already decided. Commissioners noted that many of the homes now under construction were approved years ago, some after delays from litigation. For a buyer, the housing supply over the next few years is mostly the existing homes, lots already entitled, and projects already in the pipeline. Few large new projects can be approved quickly under the cap.

The policy isn't fully final. The staff memo said agreement on the allocation policy had to come before adoption of the 2026 Comprehensive Water and Sewerage Plan could begin. It also said adoption could happen no earlier than after an October 27, 2026 hearing. The Commissioners' September 21 agenda listed the plan's adoption schedule as new business. As of early October, the posted material doesn't confirm a hearing date.

On South Kent Island, the Connection Can Come With a Bill

On South Kent Island, the sewer question also affects resale homes. The county's South Kent Island sewer project moves nine communities off septic in four phases:

• Phase 1: Kent Island Estates and Romancoke on the Bay, scheduled for 2015–2022
• Phase 2: Tower Gardens, scheduled for 2019–2023
• Phase 3: Queen Anne's Colony and Kentmorr, scheduled for 2020–2025
• Phase 4: Chesapeake Estates, Sunny Isle of Kent, Normans/Batts Neck and Matapeake Estates, scheduled for 2021–2027

Progress varies by phase. All 200 existing homes in Tower Gardens were connected by September 15, 2023. In September 2025 the county conditionally awarded a $6,812,720 contract to install STEP tanks at 211 improved Phase 4 properties, subject to Maryland Department of the Environment approval. A STEP system uses a tank at the house to pump wastewater into the sewer main. An August 2025 addendum said STEP plans then covered 134 of those 211 properties. The county described the overall project as "nearing completion" in February 2026, but it hasn't published a connection count for each neighborhood. A buyer in Phase 3 or Phase 4 should confirm whether a specific house is connected. Location alone doesn't answer that.

Three points from the county's project documents matter at the closing table:

1. The assessment can stay with the house. The county's 2014 project Q&A says assessments become public utility bills once service is available. They are public record, not part of the mortgage or deed, and can pass to a buyer as a continuing lien instead of being paid off at sale.
2. The owner handles the house lateral. The county's application and easement form makes the owner responsible for the line between the STEP tank and the house. The easement binds later owners. Project bid documents list abandoning the old septic tank as a contractor-paid item.
3. Connection is required once sewer is available. An older county FAQ says owners must connect and that the Health Department can order a connection. It gives no specific deadline.

The 2016 planning estimate put an improved home's assessment at $15,220, paid as $70 a month over 20 years, plus about $30 a month for operations and maintenance. Treat those figures as background. They are ten years old. The county's April 14, 2026 rate action excluded the Southern Kent Island subdistrict from the 2.5% operations-and-maintenance increase for fiscal 2027, but it didn't publish a new total for homeowners. The project also received an $11.8 million state Bay Restoration Fund grant, which the county said would be divided among existing South Kent Island residents to cover each one's connection fee for wastewater treatment.

Questions to Settle Before Making an Offer

• Does the home connect to public sewer, use a STEP tank, or still use septic?
• Is there a sewer benefit assessment on the property, and what balance and term are left?
• For a vacant lot, does it have a valid state-approved perc, and is it a lot of record?
• For a new-construction home, when was the project's sewer allocation granted?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Kent Island building moratorium still in effect? No. It expired on August 12, 2026. A Resolution 26-09 adopted on July 14 clarified it and extended some related deadlines, but it didn't extend the moratorium itself.

Does the cap stop someone from building a single home on a lot they already own? The county's moratorium guidance treated homes on existing lots of record as outside the moratorium. Whether a particular lot has sewer capacity still depends on its subdistrict and allocation status, so check that early.

How does the county decide who gets an allocation? Requests are still made at regularly scheduled Sanitary Commission meetings. Under Queen Anne's County's current process, a project needs concept plan approval before it can apply.

If you're weighing a Kent Island home or lot, we can pull the sewer and assessment details for that address before you decide on an offer. Shawn Moore and Meagan Moore can help you check the allocation, perc and STEP questions early, so you know what comes with the property.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.