The Worcester County commissioners unanimously approved Rezoning Case 451 on Oct. 21, 2025, reclassifying about 150 acres on the north side of Public Landing Road in Snow Hill from E‑1 (estate/residential) to A‑1 (agricultural).

Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended the change, saying the parcel is a working farm subject to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife conservation easement recorded in June 2009 that precludes subdivision. Staff told commissioners the E‑1 zoning, which permits uses such as major subdivisions and certain nonagricultural special exceptions, conflicted with both the conservation easement and the comprehensive plan’s agricultural land–use category.

Why it matters: the rezoning aligns the parcel’s regulatory designation with current use and conservation restrictions, preserving agricultural and aquaculture-compatible activities noted by the property owners and their representatives.

Hugh Cropper, representing property owners Richard and Elizabeth Smithson, told the commissioners the conservation easement was negotiated and recorded well before the 2009 rezoning that applied the E‑1 designation. Cropper said the easement extinguished prior subdivision rights and that the E‑1 zoning was therefore the product of a “good-faith mistake” in the comprehensive rezoning process.

Chris McCabe, who testified as a former Worcester County Natural Resources administrator, confirmed the conservation easement was negotiated beginning in 2007 and recorded on June 22, 2009. McCabe said the easement precludes subdivision but allows agricultural uses consistent with an A‑1 designation.

Commissioner Bunting moved to approve the rezoning and to adopt the Planning Commission’s findings of fact; Commissioner Metresick seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Details from the record: the Planning Commission’s recommendation cited the property’s primary use as a working farm, the recorded conservation easement, the county’s decision not to adopt septic tier maps that would allow major subdivisions, and the comprehensive-plan guidance that the E‑1 district should be eliminated in favor of agricultural designations where appropriate.

What it changes: A‑1 zoning provides a broader set of agricultural and resource-related uses (for example, certain aquaculture and farm-processing activities) that Planning staff said are consistent with the conservation easement and the landowner’s stated uses. Commissioners noted the county-wide comprehensive rezoning and zoning‑map update remain ongoing; several said this case did not set a general precedent for other properties.

Ending: The rezoning was approved and will be reflected in the county’s zoning map and administrative records; staff said related zoning‑map updates from the comprehensive‑plan process will be addressed in subsequent steps.