Suddenly you’ve noticed changes in your community — a new mall, a housing subdivision or a gas station and you wonder, “How did that get there?”
The answer involves land-use planning and zoning processes. Planning and zoning generally determine where most things are located and how they are built. This process allows for public participation along the way. You can have a say in how your community will look in the future. Be a part of the process!
Comprehensive Plans: A Sense of Vision
A sense of vision is essential to developing a successful, sustainable community. A well thought out master (or comprehensive) plan can help a community achieve that vision. This plan considers all of the complex facets of a community — such as neighborhoods, downtown, parks, farmland, transportation and public services. Such a plan can clearly state where the community wants to go and what it needs to do to get there. In Maryland, local plans are reviewed every six years and active citizen participation is an essential piece of the puzzle.
You are in the Mix
Citizen participation is a vital component of the local planning process. Watch for signs posted on land proposed for development. Also, check notices in the legal section of local newspapers for zoning or master plan update hearings, or on your local government web-site. Public hearings are advertised to encourage participation and solicit input from you, the citizen. So, SPEAK UP. You have a voice and you have a choice.
2. Work with developers and your local planning staff to encourage compact development and preservation of open space.
3. Attend posted public hearings and comment on planning and development decisions.
4. Consider forming or joining a local organization to serve as a local watchdog over planning and growth in your community.
This long range plan outlines trends in the community and how to address future growth. Addresses issues such as transportation, environment, and recreation.
Zoning Code:
Must be consistent with comprehensive plan. This code regulates the type and size of development (i.e. 1/2 acre lots, residential only, commercial, industrial).
Subdivision Regulations:
Must be consistent with comprehensive plan and zoning code. These laws regulates how land is subdivided (required setbacks, number of parking spaces).
Building Code:
This law regulates the specifics of how structures are built.
Buyer Beware
A house is typically the largest purchase you will ever make, so ask questions of your local planning office or Realtor before you invest. Remember, knowledge is power.
It helps to know:
Don’t assume that the nearby farm, vacant parcel of land, or local woods will remain in its present state!
A road, housing subdivision or shopping center may be planned. Examine the recorded plat and/or deed of the property to check for any existing easements. An easement is a right given to a person to make limited use of another’s property. Examples include storm water drainage easements; water, sewer, or utility easements; sidewalk easements; or forest easements. Find out if floodplains, wetlands or required setbacks exist on the property.
Whose Backyard?
One of the challenges of land-use planning is the NIMBY (“Not In My Backyard”) attitude. Master plans need to accommodate all community needs, but many needed facilities like landfills, incinerators, halfway houses and shelters are often opposed by nearby neighborhoods that fear the environmental and social impacts of such land uses. Even new subdivisions may be opposed by residents of a nearby subdivision that was built only a few years earlier.
These attitudes pose a serious challenge to the concept of “Smart Growth” that focuses on protecting open space and locating development in areas with existing infrastructure (roads, water/sewer lines, schools, etc). One such strategy is “infill” — developing in vacant parcels within existing developed or built up areas that already have the infrastructure to support growth.
But for current residents, those vacant parcels may serve as informal parks and playgrounds, even if they are privately owned. Opposition to their development can be fierce. The best solution, local planners say, is for residents to become knowledgeable about local land-use proposals and zoning laws and to get involved in the update of their community’s master plan to ensure that communities remain livable by providing adequate parks, transportation and other needs. The solution is not to stop growth, but to direct growth where it can best be accommodated, and to design it within the scale and character of a community.
Wondering whether you live in a local growth area? You can use the Maryland Department of Planning’s online mapping engine to find out whether your home or business is in a “Priority Funding Area.” Go to: www.mdp.state.md.us/smartgrowth/pfamapping/mapping_pfa.htm
MERLIN Online to learn about the environmental conditions of a property (wetlands, sensitive species habitat, etc), to identify property boundaries or ownership, or even to measure your local jogging route. Go to: www.mdmerlin.net
Frederick County: Planning for Growth
Frederick County is one of a growing number of counties that recently incorporated “small area plans” into their county-wide master plan update. The small area planning process was designed to involve residents and property owners of certain communities in deciding:
During the “small area” planning process, residents envisioned what they wanted for their community, and what types of changes they preferred. They felt that the top three issues facing Frederick County are growth management, traffic congestion, and loss of open space. With help from citizens, several regional planning committees were created to monitor and comment on land development proposals.
The small area planning process provided an opportunity for residents to “chart the course of their future.” Nancy Bodmer, Chairperson of the Buckeystown Small Area Plan, praised the county for its efforts to “actively involve, educate and listen to the people who live and know the community of Buckeystown.” She added, “It makes sense to include the people who are the most knowledgeable about the present and future needs of the area because they live there.”
What You Can Do:
Comment on land-use proposals that affect you and your community.
Attend local planning board or planning commission hearings and speak up.
Talk to your neighbors about community issues and what you can do to affect them.
Be a good neighbor — be considerate about noise, parking and other issues.
Work with government officials and community leaders because YOU, the citizen can aid in planning what happens to your community, what gets built where and how it looks, and what is preserved.
Need More Info?
Maryland Chapter-American Planning Association: www.marylandapa.org
How many of these are close to your home? Do they involve a 5-, 10-, or 30- minute car ride to reach? Are they accessible on foot or bicycle?
__Schools
__Restaurant
__Park
__Firehouse
__Stores
__Ballfield
__Playground
__Public Transportation
__Swimming Pool
__Woods/Open Space
__Movie Theater
__Bookstore
__Stream
__Post Office
__Coffee Shop
__Library
__Police Station
__Place of Worship
__Bank
1. Read your local comprehensive plan.
Comprehensive/Master Plan:
Become familiar with your area’s Master Plan and zoning laws.
American Institute of Architects Chesapeake Chapter: www.aiachesapeakebay.org
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