By Brian Sane

Staff Writer

(March 12, 2026) Summerfield is back, but not in the way Snow Hill might remember.

A new annexation proposal is reviving the Summerfield name in Snow Hill, attaching it to a smaller housing project led by Matt Odachowski. He is the brother of Mark Odachowski, who spearheaded the earlier, much larger residential development project 20 years ago that never came to fruition.

Matt Odachowski on Jan. 21 filed a petition seeking to annex 166.7 acres, most of which he already owns, into Snow Hill’s municipal limits. The proposal outlines a planned community featuring a mix of about 300 single-family homes, duplexes, multi-family dwellings, alongside a small commercial component.

Annexation would allow the property to be developed under Snow Hill’s zoning and connected to town sewer and water services.

The new Summerfield would be built on the Pocomoke River-facing side of Market Street, described as a contiguous extension of Snow Hill’s downtown. According to the 57-page proposal, the development is expected to attract moderate-income residents employed in the immediate area, including personnel from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

The plan – submitted to the town under the name Summerfield in Snow Hill, LLC – notes that most of the land is already designated a “Growth Area” in both county and municipal comprehensive plans, meaning planners have long identified it as suitable for future development.

The new proposal, however, is dramatically smaller than its namesake predecessor.

The original Summerfield covered nearly 1,000 acres and proposed 2,400 homes when it was pitched in 2005. That version, which even included plans for a new municipal wastewater treatment plant, was ultimately doomed by the Great Recession of 2007-08.

While Snow Hill initially had annexed 966 acres to accommodate that growth, the town adopted a charter amendment in 2019 undoing the annexation and returning the land to Worcester County.

Hugh Cropper, attorney for Matt Odachowski, described the new Summerfield as a “completely different concept” from the brother’s previous attempt. The new version notably lacks the master-designed “town center” as featured in the original, he said.

“The only thing about it is the same name, but it’s a completely different entity,” Cropper said. “It is a different entity and a different person. It’s not meant to cause confusion. It’s meant to keep it in the family.”

Snow Hill encompasses about 993 acres, or 1.55 square miles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That includes 46 acres just annexed earlier this year near the town’s elementary and middle schools. Adding 166.7 acres would boost its square footage to 1,160 acres, a 16.8% increase.

Snow Hill Town Manager Rick Pollitt said the developer approached town officials with the idea last year. The town met Feb. 20 with Worcester County planners to discuss how the new residential property would be zoned to stay consistent with existing county zoning.

The developer is asking for 300 sewerage units, or EDUs, which the town said it’s willing to provide from its base of about 1,800 available EDUs. The annexation plan also says police and fire service would not be affected, and that nearby public schools could accommodate the growth.

Pollitt said Snow Hill won’t be expected to pay for anything, and that the developer will carry the full cost to build, including any new roads, electric connections, plumbing, attorney fees, and more. The developer’s plan says the addition of new property taxes would save the town from being burdened by new services.

So far, there’s no timeline on the project. Pollitt said it’s too soon to know how long it might take to complete, though he believes the homes would be built in phases.

Annexation would require a resolution by the mayor and Town Council, along with a negotiated annexation agreement spelling out zoning and development conditions.

“I’m always hopeful when there’s positive energy at work,” Pollitt said. “That the vision behind all this conforms with how most of the people in town feel about their community, and it’ll be something that enhances the image everyone has of Snow Hill now.”