Starting in November, a new public water main will go into the eastbound lane of Main Street in Grasonville. It runs from near the U.S. 50/301 Exit 42 area east to the Chester River Beach Road overpass. If you're looking at a house along that stretch, the pipe out front doesn't change how the house gets its water. According to the Queen Anne's County notice on the project, properties on the route won't be required to connect just because the main is there, and existing homes can keep using their wells unless a well completely fails. New development may face connection requirements.
The same thing is true across the Kent Narrows, Stevensville and Grasonville service area. New pipes and new capacity are arriving, but the rules decide who gets to use them. The 12-month residential building moratorium the County Commissioners enacted in August 2025 expired on August 12, 2026. The system replacing it will add new homes slowly and on purpose, so buyers comparing Kent Island and Grasonville should expect to shop mostly among homes that already exist.
The cap that replaced the moratorium
At their August 11, 2026 meeting, the commissioners voted for an annual cap on new residential sewer allocation of 15,000 gallons per day, effective January 1, 2027. The cap applies to sewer capacity handed out, not to how much water households use.
The County's water and wastewater rate schedule counts a standard dwelling as 250 gallons per day. At that figure, 15,000 gallons per day works out to roughly 60 standard homes a year across the whole service area. That number is a ceiling. Projects still need their other development approvals, and the cap doesn't promise that 60 homes will be approved or built in any year.
The County weighed tighter and looser options before settling here. A July 2026 update described an earlier proposal of 10,000 gallons per day, about 40 homes a year. It also recorded concerns on both sides: one large project could use up most of a year's allocation, while a cap set too low could block projects worth building. My Eastern Shore MD's coverage of the task force's April 14 presentation reported that 10,000-gallon figure along with a quarterly application process. The quarterly windows were later dropped. Allocation requests can be made at any regularly scheduled Sanitary Commission meeting, as they are now.
Where the new capacity actually goes
The County gained 300,000 gallons per day of treatment capacity through a plant rerating secured in June 2026. The draft Water and Sewer Allocation Policy laid out at the August 11 meeting splits it four ways, and splits the estimated 150,000 gallons per day left over from the plant's earlier expansion three ways.
| Capacity source | Category | Gallons per day | Rough home equivalent at 250 gpd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remaining from 2007 expansion | Residential | 50,000 | About 200 |
| Remaining from 2007 expansion | Commercial | 22,500 | Not residential |
| Remaining from 2007 expansion | Climate resiliency buffer | 77,500 | Held separately |
| 2026 rerating | Marling Farms and Dominion public health | 125,000 | Existing homes |
| 2026 rerating | Other public health concerns | 25,000 | Existing homes |
| 2026 rerating | Commercial and institutional | 50,000 | Not residential |
| 2026 rerating | Residential infill | 100,000 | About 400 |
The minutes say commercial apartments count as residential in these categories. Any unused residential or commercial capacity from the 150,000 would move into the rerating categories, while the climate buffer stays separate. The minutes also say the County can change these amounts later by amending the policy.
Read the table with the cap in mind. The two residential categories hold 150,000 gallons per day between them, or about 600 standard homes. If all of that moved under a ceiling of 15,000 gallons per day a year, it would take about a decade to hand out on paper. The largest single category from the rerating goes to houses that already stand, not to new ones.
The largest share serves existing homes
Marling Farms and Dominion get 125,000 gallons per day because of public health concerns tied to failing septic systems. A September 21, 2026 County memo describes a proposed service area of 504 improved properties, 77 vacant lots that can't be built on and five vacant buildable lots. The memo notes that because there are relatively few vacant unbuildable lots, there are fewer ways to spread costs and soften the impact on homeowners.
The memo lays out these steps and target dates.
- The County planned to send project information to the Maryland Department of the Environment in October 2026 and to seek a Public Health Exemption.
- A funding application is due by January 31, 2027, and the memo calls state funding critical.
- Design would start around 2028.
- Construction would be finished by 2034, assuming the County pursues funding in the coming cycle.
The September update didn't include a homeowner cost estimate. Staff recommended wider outreach once funding, project costs and possible homeowner impacts are clearer. For anyone looking at a home in either community, the sewer extension is a planned project with target dates. It doesn't have a price or a hookup date yet. If you want more detail on the septic side, our earlier post on Queen Anne's County's two layers of septic rules covers the inspection and pump-out requirements that apply until sewer arrives.
Who gets to the front of the line
The rules have a sequence. A project has to finish concept-plan review and get approval before it can ask for an allocation. Under the August draft, residential allocations granted before January 1, 2027 aren't subject to the new annual cap. So the next two months work differently from every year after them.
The County hasn't published a ranking, lottery or first-come order for projects competing for capacity once the cap starts. An April 2026 update recorded commissioners' concern about having to pick "winners and losers."
Chesterhaven Beach shows what an existing allocation looks like in practice. The project received its sewer allocation in 2011. In 2023 it was reduced from 178 lots to no more than 90, and the County recaptured 22,500 gallons per day. In August 2026 the County extended the project's deadline to be under construction from September 10, 2026 to September 10, 2030, keeping its existing allocation. The County was clear that the extension doesn't approve the development, which still goes through development review. Even a project holding capacity from 15 years ago now has to be under construction by 2030 to keep it.
What's settled and what's still pending
The cap and its start date were voted on in August. The broader framework is still in the adoption process. As of the County's wrap-up of its September 21 meeting, posted October 5, the 2026 Comprehensive Water and Sewerage Plan and the allocation policy hadn't been adopted. A public hearing was planned for October 27, with adoption targeted for November 10, 2026. The category amounts in the table above come from the draft policy, so the November vote is the date to watch. Public comment can go to [email protected].
What this means for buyers shopping now
If new construction on Kent Island and in Grasonville stays slow, the choice comes down mostly to resale homes. County-wide figures show more of those on the market. Maryland REALTORS reports, based on Bright MLS data, that Queen Anne's County had 292 active listings in September 2026, up 26.4% from 231 in September 2025. Months of inventory rose to 4.2 from 3.3. In the same month, 58 homes closed county-wide, down 28.4% from a year earlier. The median sale price was $497,500, down 8.0%, and the median home sat on the market 35 days.
One month can swing. August 2026 looked different, with 80 closed sales, a $565,000 median, 3.8 months of inventory and 32 median days on market. These are county totals, not numbers for Stevensville, Chester or Grasonville alone. The September pattern of more listings, fewer closings and longer market times gives buyers more room to compare homes than they had a year ago. Meanwhile, the sewer rules keep new construction from adding much to the mix.
That makes homes that already exist the main supply. For a resale house, the practical questions are about its own systems. Is it on public sewer or septic? Is it on a well or public water? If it's on Grasonville's Main Street, will the new main matter to you? Construction there is set to start November 1, 2026, with directional drilling from about Exit 41 to Exit 43A near Queenstown Bank first and open-trench work on the rest. Crews will work Monday through Friday. Drilling runs 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and trench work 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with partial lane closures and flagging. The contract sets completion for mid-October 2027. The County says it will contact homeowners and businesses along the eastbound lane directly if driveway access will be affected. Questions go to the Department of Public Works, Sanitary District, at 410-643-3535.
This post is general information, not legal or financial advice. Please confirm how connection, allocation or well rules apply to a specific property with the County and the right professionals.
If you're weighing a Kent Island or Grasonville home and want to know how its water, sewer and allocation situation affects your plans, Tina Brown can walk through it with you step by step before you write an offer. Let's Connect.
