Cities Civil and Municipal July 2024 Public Sector

Leonardtown, Maryland

July 29, 2024

Leonardtown, Maryland

A Revamped Downtown Primed for a Dynamic Future

Growing faster than its neighbors, a city that offers it all while embracing its uniqueness

As one of the fastest-growing municipalities per capita in the state of Maryland, the charming city of Leonardtown has a lot to be happy about. Boasting growth in the double digits and a downtown revitalization that is not only pleasing it’s lucky residents but also drawing in visitors from around the region, Leonardtown has without a doubt undergone a remarkable transformation. Learning from its past while embracing the future, this city has put the effort in and is now seeing the tangible results.

“Things are just great in town,” Mayor Burris begins. “The businesses are doing well, and things are great here in town compared to back in the 90’s.”

“I have pictures of 20 boarded-up buildings. Businesses were leaving. We had a courthouse and a post office being moved out of downtown Leonardtown to Route Five,” Mayor Burris continues.

Thanks to the groundwork put in by the previous mayor, both of these institutions remained, and further steps were taken to begin to revamp the downtown area, Mayor Burris points out.

“The previous mayor stepped up and kept things going and now we have so much going on.”

Mayor Dan Burris and Town Administrator Laschelle McKay

A Revitalized Downtown Through Collaboration

“We are right on Breton Bay that goes out into the Potomac River, and we have redone the wharf area and still have plans to do even more down there,” Mayor Burris describes when trying to encapsulate the magnitude of the work that has taken place in and around the city’s waterfront and downtown area.

Laschelle McKay echoes the Mayor’s comments and adds, “St Mary’s County is a rural area, but Leonardtown is one of the two designated growth areas for the county.”

“Eighty percent of our economy in St Mary’s County is Patuxent River Naval Air Station, so we are drawing a lot of people from there. Things are good here, and this is the place people want to live, work, and play,” McKay adds.

As plans materialize for the downtown area and dynamic commercial growth continues in and around the waterfront, Mayor Burris highlights that the city has continued to take a systematic approach toward economic development and revitalization. Collaboration, as well as valuing consistency in leadership and management, Mayor Burris points out, have been the key to the city’s ongoing success and bright prospects moving forward.

“I have been here for 24 years,” McKay states. “The mayor has been in office since 2012 and there was only one other mayor in the last 25 years. It has just been a really good, consistent, unified management team and we all have a common goal.”

“We work with the town council and the businesses, the developers, residents, and the Leonardtown Business Association. In 2019 we decided to hire consultants to work on an updated downtown plan and the first of that plan focused on the town square,” McKay elaborates.

Beautification of the Town Center

Some of the first changes the city made on the route to revamping the city center included cosmetic updates such as landscaping, parking improvements, updated signage, and planting additional trees to create a welcoming and pleasant environment for residents to explore, enjoy, and socialize in Leonardtown’s central hub.

“We also started talking about adding outdoor seating that happened to coincide with COVID hitting, so we ended up in a very short amount of time getting outdoor seating for our restaurants.”

“Leonardtown became the place for people to walk and to be outside during COVID. It was an eye-opening time for a lot of people to discover the town, and that included a lot of young people who didn’t even know that we had a downtown, or that we had the degree of amenities as well as family-friendly things to do,” McKay offers.

Since 2019 and through COVID the city has worked consistently to keep adding to the allure of the waterfront and its town center.

“It is the picture spot for graduations or proms and there is now a playground for kids. Every year we have expanded and refined the downtown and waterfront plans and we are working with the consultants to make sure the plan continues to grow into the future.”

Commercial Prospects for a Growing Downtown

Success stories fill the quaint streets of Leonardtown town center and reflect the fabric of the community.

“We are [currently] recognizing the Good Earth Natural Food Store for 25 years in business. It started as a small shop right on the square and has now grown into a larger location and become very successful,” McKay relays when talking about locally owned businesses that dot the town center.

Other businesses, both Mayor Burris and McKay point out, represent long-time investments in the community.

“We have several multi-generational businesses such as the Olde Town Pub,” McKay says.

“One of the owners is John MacDonald and now two of his sons have opened a restaurant called Mac’s Tap and Table. We also have several mom and daughter-owned businesses. Marie & Nash is a retail shop and we have Flour Bakery, The Escape Room, Happy and Zen Crystals, and Fenwick Street Used Books and Music. These are all mother-daughter-owned businesses.”

Adding to the appeal of the downtown area is the newly opened Rex Theatre as well as the Bell Motor Company complex which has been transformed into a retail experience that boasts several shops. Top-notch restaurants also grace the downtown center including Sweet Bay, The Front Porch, Il Piccolo, and others that have opened up over the last several years. The iconic Duke Building just reopened on the Town Square and is now home to Social Coffeehouse and Shepherd’s Old Field Market is an old lumber yard that has been transformed into a community gathering space including numerous shops, Botanic Deli and a beer garden!

“Most of these businesses, almost 90 percent, in Leonardtown are locally-owned businesses,” Mayor Burris proudly states.

Laying the Groundwork for Further Growth

Leonardtown has also devoted energy towards critical and civic infrastructure projects that are helping to lay the foundation for anticipated growth.

“We are currently expanding our wastewater treatment plant, building a new 1 million gallon water storage tank and an additional production well to accommodate the growth,” Mayor Burris relays.

“We are also working on sidewalk projects to connect all the housing developments so that it is walkable to downtown. A lot is going on and we are ready for the expansion,” he summarizes.

Tourists will also benefit from the list of infrastructure projects planned for Leonardtown which include plans for a new Hotel Conference Center to be on the wish list moving forward.

City officials work very closely with the County Tourism Organization, Visit St. Mary’s and a Visitors Center was opened recently in the downtown core to help facilitate the overall tourist experience.

A Place to Call Home in Leonardtown

Not unlike other municipalities of a similar size, housing has become a hot topic and remains a top priority for city officials to help match anticipated population growth in the region.

Leonardtown has several residential options in the works.

“We are in the process of planning the development of 400 acres of land adjacent to the downtown with two and a half miles of waterfront that will have trails and boardwalks and it is [a combination] of housing and commercial development, including multi-family housing as well as single-family options,” McKay describes.

‘We have another large development, Meadows at Town Run II, which is a development of townhomes and nice apartments. We are trying to keep them in a more workforce housing price range.”

“The development has a large amount of open space and we have worked hard to connect all of these new developments that have been so successful to the downtown with connecting streets and sidewalks,” she elaborates further.

Growing Ahead

Both Mayor Burris and McKay agree that Leonardtown is open for business and has the right process in place to make conducting business and investing in the municipality a seamless affair.

“We provide accessibility to leadership and you know that your project will be done in a partnership [with us] where you can talk things through and have a resolution very quickly. We are going to work to get your permits and we are already working on the infrastructure to support it.”

“It is just a very open line of communication and you know that when you are investing, it is going to happen,” McKay states.

Leonardtown is welcoming dynamic growth, preparing for more commercial investment, and continuously ensuring that the critical infrastructure needs of the residents and developers investing in the area are taken care of.

As Mayor Burris concludes, “Our name is getting out there and we are now being more widely known so I think that we will be bringing in some larger investments.”