Spring 2012 Meeting

Thursday, April 5, 2012, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Community Place Building (DHCD), 100 Community Place,Crownsville

• Agenda

MDOT/SHA Highway Access Permit Process - Stakeholder Outreach

• Steven D. Foster, Chief of the Access Management Division, Maryland SHA
• Presentation
• Flow Charts Handout
• SHA Access Management Division FAQs
• Access Management webpage

Technical and Financial Resources Available To Help Coastal Communities Prepare For Climate Change

• Jeffrey Allenby, CoastSmart Communities Planner, Chesapeake and Coastal Program, DNR
• Presentation
• CoastSmart Communities Initiative
• Coastal Atlas
• Chesapeake & Coastal Program Online Resource Center
• Fact Sheet: CoastSmart Communities
• Fact Sheet: Maryland’s Coastal Atlas
• Fact Sheet: CoastSmart Recovery
• Fact Sheet: What is Freeboard?

Maryland Bikeways Program: Announcing a New Funding Opportunity for Bicycle Infrastructure

• Kate Sylvester, Community Planner, Office of Planning and Capital Programming, MDOT
• Maryland Bikeways Program website
• Meeting Handout

Roundtable Announcements

• Jake Day, Director of the Center for Towns for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) announced the Conservancy’s 13th Annual Planning Conference. This year’s theme is Rural Jobs Summit: Vibrant Towns + Working Landscapes
• 13th Annual Planning Conference Flier – Agenda & Theme

Winter 2011 Meeting

Thursday, December 15, 2011, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Community Place Building (DHCD), 100 Community Place,Crownsville

• Agenda

PlanMaryland Areas Guidelines Interactive discussion

• Issues to be Considered in Revising/Refining Draft Guidelines
• Potential Implications Based on Implementation Strategies
• Planning Area Guidelines

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Fall 2011 Meeting

Thursday, October 13, 2011, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Maryland Higher Education Commission, Annapolis

• Agenda
• Meeting Summary

Program included:

• Urban Land Institute Presentation: Report on the 5 regional workshops on the Challenges of Infill Development – Sean Davis, ULI Baltimore
• ULI Presentation Follow up discussion – Peter Conrad, MDP
• Sustainable Communities Application Process Update – John Papagni, DHCD
  • Round 1 Application Update
  • Sustainable Community Areas & Plans Agency Regional Staff for Technical Assistance

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Summer 2011 Meeting

Thursday, June 23, 2011 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

• Agenda
• Meeting Summary

Program included:

• Sustainable Communities
• PlanMaryland draft plan: Halfway Through the Public Comment Period
• Secretary Hall's State Planning Update

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Spring 2011 Meeting

Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

Agenda

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Fall 2010 Meeting

Thursday, October 14, 2010 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

Agenda

Meeting Summary

Topics included:

• The Latest on PlanMaryland – Richard Josephson, AICP, Director
• Published "PlanMaryland: What We're Hearing," a summary of the comments from attendees of the Public Forums. Full comment notes are at the website.
• MDP has begun the State Interagency process for the next stage of plan development. State interagency coordination and implementation strategy will be the focus.
• The public outreach process will continue in late winter/early spring of 2011. In addition to a second round of public meetings for feedback, we will be meeting with local jurisdictions.
• GrowthPrint – Stephanie Martins, AICP, Manager, Land Use Planning & Analysis

Updated the status of the department's interactive map tool for displaying areas targeted for redevelopment in PFAs. GrowthPrint is still in development.

• Main Collaborative Session – Shawn Kiernan, AICP, Regional Planner, Upper Eastern Shore

Areas of Critical State Concern (ACSC): Planning directors received a background on ACSCs. This was followed by a group discussion to generate thoughts on how a redesigned designation could be beneficial to state and local governments and to PlanMaryland.

• Secretary's State Planning Update – Secretary Richard E. Hall, AICP
• The Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission – The Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission is made up of the former Task Force members and new appointees for a total of 36. Appointments to the commission were made in early September. The commission's first meeting is on Monday, October 25, 2010, at the Maryland Historical Society.
• Planning Commissioners and Boards of Appeals Education Course – Over 70% of members of planning commissions, planning boards and boards of appeals have taken the course, required under the Smart & Sustainable Growth Act of 2009. Many have taken MDP's live or online offering.
• HB 1141 – Provided an update on the 2006 planning law which requires new elements in county and town comprehensive plans. The Municipal Growth Element and the Water Resources Element has been adopted my most every jurisdiction to which it applies and is in the process for just a few more.

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Spring 2010 Meeting

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

Agenda

Meeting Summary

Topics included:

• The Sustainable Communities Act of 2010 - What it is and what it means for your jurisdiction
• PlanMaryland - We went through all but 3 public forums by this meeting. But there was more to do besides these 13 meetings. We discussed the forums and the next steps
  
  Presentation by Richard Josephson
  
  
• 2009 Smart, Green & Growing legislation - Annual reporting requirement; Planning Commissioner Education Course and more
  
  Presentation by Richard Josephson
  Annual Report Guidance letter and forms
  
  
• The Heritage Areas Strategic Plan - The plan calls for greater engagement of Heritage Area management in local planning processes to ensure that their goals are reflected in these plans
  
  Presentation by Deputy Secretary and MHAA Chair Matt Power

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Winter 2010 Meeting

Thursday, January 21, 2010 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

Agenda for the January 21st meeting

Meeting Summary

Briefing for MD Local Planning Directors by Special Advisor to the EPA Administrator Chuck Fox

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Fall 2009 Meeting

Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis

Agenda for the November 19th meeting
See pictures of the meeting at MDP's flickr

Meeting Summary

Director of Planning Services for MDP, Richard Josephson, AICP, opened the meeting, introduced the attendees and briefly commented on the State’s Growth Plan being called PlanMaryland. Below are the two handouts.

Why Do We Need PlanMaryland?
PlanMaryland: An Overview

Other handouts:

Frequently Asked Questions about Planning Commission/Board and Board of Appeals Training Course

An Assessment of HB1141: the Water Resources and Municipal Growth Elements.

Richard then introduced Peter Conrad, Director of Local Planning Assistance for MDP. Peter opened the next session, which took a look at the requirements of House Bill 1141 from the 2006 session of the Maryland General Assembly.

House Bill 1141 significantly affected comprehensive plans and annexations. HB 1141 required that two new elements be included in local comprehensive plans by October 1, 2009: All county and municipal governments must include a Water Resources Element (WRE) and all municipalities must include a Municipal Growth Element (MGE).

Mr. Jack Lenox, AICP, Director of Wicomico/Salisbury County Planning Department, and Mr. Jon Arason, AICP, Director of Annapolis Department of Planning and Zoning, each provided details about their respective efforts to develop these elements for their jurisdictions’ comprehensive plans. Mr. Lenox gave a review of Wicomico County’s process for the Water Resources Element. Mr. Arason presented the City of Annapolis’s path toward their Municipal Growth Element. Following each presentation, those in attendance had the opportunity to ask questions and make comments on their own experiences.

Presentation on the MGE by Jon Arason, AICP

Speaker bios

GrowthPrint: Measuring and Prioritizing within Maryland’s Growth Areas

Matt Folley, from MDP’s Land Use Planning & Analysis unit, presented the technical methodology for GrowthPrint and discussed the role of GrowthPrint in the context of PlanMaryland as well as its relationship o to other targeting mechanisms within the State.

The Maryland Department of Planning uses geographic information systems (GIS) and synthesis of planning and socio-economic data to assess Maryland’s effort to manage and target growth-related state programs. GrowthPrint is a web mapping tool to help practitioners and the public visualize where this targeting is taking place and to help identify areas where further targeting makes the most sense. It builds on Maryland’s smart growth laws by further prioritizing areas for revitalization and redevelopment.

Using locations of existing state programs, GrowthPrint illustrates the State’s efforts in revitalization, redevelopment, and other growth-related activities. Existing programs (e.g. Designated Neighborhoods, Enterprise Zones, Community Legacy, BRAC Zones, TOD) are used to map where the State is targeting these efforts.

Matt Folley’s GrowthPrint presentation

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Summer 2009 Meeting

The 2009 summer meeting of the Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable was held on Thursday, July 23, 2009, at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis.

Click here for agenda

After introductions, the attendees were asked to take part in an Interactive Tabletop Exercise, in which eight-person roundtable groups engaged in a lively dialogue on the key elements of the State Development Planning process. The elements discussed were: Plan Development; Public and Stakeholder Engagement; and Plan Implementation.

A series of questions were given to each table to discuss. Tabletop Exercise

After a 45-minute breakout session, each table reported on the main points discussed at their table according to the theme of their questions. The larger group was then invited to comment on the overall topics.

• Alternatives to Traditional Meeting
• Growth vs Vision
• Outreach Methods
• Time Horizon
• Strategy

After this exercise, each table was asked to designate regions in Maryland by marking up a large map of the State. The representations of these maps are presented below:

• Table 1
• Table 2
• Table 3
• Table 4
• Table 5

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Spring 2009 Meeting

The 2009 spring meeting of the Roundtable was held on Thursday, March 19, 2009, at The Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) “Green” headquarters building, in Annapolis.

Click here for agenda

Three presenters offered their perspectives on smart sustainable growth and development in Maryland.

Following the meeting, CBF provided a guided tour of the Philip Merrill Environmental Center to the attendees.

Growing Smarter: Sustainable Development & Design

Presented by Rollin Stanley, AICP, Director – Montgomery County Planning Department

County planners drafting the 2009-2011 Growth Policy are rethinking how to manage growth, looking beyond the usual basis of congestion relief and school capacity. Instead, the county is focusing on ways to enhance quality of place in our communities. Learn how growing smarter means respecting the natural environment in the design of buildings, spaces and streets to create great places with better connections.

Click here for presentation

The Maryland Scenario Project

Presented by Dr. Gerrit Knaap – Executive Director, The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, University of Maryland, College Park.

The National Center for Smart Growth is creating a series of potential development scenarios for the State, using models and other techniques to compare the effects of each scenario on the environment, infrastructure, transportation and other resources. The Center expects the results to help inform the work of various State agencies and local governments that are grappling with how to respond to growth pressures in Maryland.

Presentation coming soon

Land Use Initiative Scoping Study

Presented by Allen Hance, Executive Director, and Jamie Baxter, Program Director – Chesapeake Bay Trust; Joanne Throwe, Associate Director – Environmental Finance Center

Mr. Hance described the mission and actions of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network and the rationale for commissioning the Land Use Initiative Scoping Study in the fall of 2008. Joanne Throwe described how the EFC conducted the study and the primary recommendations. Mr. Hance and Mr. Baxter followed up with a discussion of the Funders Network’s response to the recommendations and sought input from the planners attending.

Speaker bios

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Fall 2008/Winter 2009 Meeting

Secretary of Planning Richard Hall hosted the Fall 2008/ Winter 2009 meeting of the Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis. Click here for a smmary of the meeting.

The theme for Roundtable meeting was “Citizen Engagement for Comprehensive Plans.” Presentations were made by Greg Bowen, Director of the Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning, and Joe Adkins, AICP, Deputy Director for Planning for the City of Frederick.

Greg Bowen’s Presentation

Citizen participation has always been the key to the planning program in Calvert County. The Department of Planning and Zoning has always taken their comprehensive plan process on the road to civic groups and organizations. Mr. Bowen will discuss the department’s plan for citizen engagement and will discuss future plans to use web-based media to reach out to citizens.

Click here for Greg’s Power Point Presentation

Joe Adkins’ Presentation

Challenges and successes of public participation (or How I got my wife involved in the process) In an effort to make the public participation process more accessible to the residents of the City of Frederick, the City used standard and new methods to encourage public participation. This session will review what worked and what has potential for the future?

Click here for Joe’s Presentation Notes

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Summer 2008 Meeting

Secretary of Planning Richard Hall hosted the summer 2008 meeting of the Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable on Thursday, July 31, 2008. This all-day meeting was held in the Albin O. Kuhn Library on the campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).

Click here for agenda
Click here for Meeting Summary

The theme for Roundtable meeting was “Sustainability: Green and Smart Growth.” Speakers for the day included:

• Keynote address by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, III, President of UMBC.
• Rex Wright, Chair of the Baltimore Maryland Regional chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council and Installation Manager for Johnson Controls, Inc., gave a presentation on Sustainability & Green Building.
• Beth Strommen, Manager of the Office of Sustainability for City of Baltimore, presented Baltimore’s Sustainability Program.
• Dr. Reid Ewing, University of Maryland, National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education, and author of Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, gave a presentation on the theme of his book.

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Winter 2008 Meeting

On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Secretary Hall hosted the Winter 2008 meeting of Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable. The meeting was held in the main hall of the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis.

Secretary Hall opened the roundtable discussion with an update on where three key pieces of planning legislation were going in the General Assembly. These bills are the BRAC Community Enhancement Act (HB 366, cross-filed SB 206), the Transit-Oriented Development bill (SB 204, cross-filed HB 373), and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Protection Program bill (SB 844, cross-filed HB1253). See the meeting notes document linked below for the details of his comments.

Meeting Summary

Deputy Secretary Matt Power followed the Secretary with some State Planning news and updates. He discusses how to link Heritage Areas into your comprehensive plan without having to do amendments. Mr. Power also provided a status of the Governor’s iMap initiative, the project to create one Maryland basemap with data from all partners. He also made a request that, as drafts of the Water Resources and Municipal Growth elements to comprehensive plans are complete, local governments provide them to MDP. This will ease the process for all concerned. He also made a mention of the letter MDP sent to local officials requesting updates on State Depository materials required by statute.

Rounding out the State Planning updates, Jon Laria, Chair of the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development created under House Bill 773 in 2007, gave a few words on the work so far on the Task Force. They have had two meetings and are moving in a positive direction toward meeting the 13 charges in the legislation. Mr. Laria took a number of questions from the assembled planning directors.

Following this, two case study presentations were given by officials of local governments.

Presentation by the Caroline County Department of Planning and Codes

“The us versus the y’alls” Breaking down the barriers in Town and County relations and how it can help with the WRE Presentation by Stacey Weisner, Director, Caroline County Planning and Codes Administration

Working with Towns to Develop the Water Resources Element Presentation by Stacey Weisner, Director

Caroline County Planning and Codes recognizes that the best way to get cooperation from others is to know and understand them. That is why the county has made it a priority to develop relationships with their eight towns.

Ms. Weisner and her staff presented “The us versus the y’alls,” breaking down the barriers in Town and County relations and how it can help with the Water Resources Element.

Presentation by the Town of Leonardtown

Leonardtown’s Revitalization
Presentation by Laschelle Miller, Town Administrator

As with most small towns across the country, Leonardtown has met its share of survival challenges over the last 20 years. Learn how this quaint Town has turned the corner on the revitalization of its downtown. From boarded up buildings to a thriving downtown and brand new 5.5 million dollar public waterfront park. The presentation will focus on one Town’s journey and lessons learned. The presentation will look at reinventing ourselves as times change while holding onto the aspects that made us a town to begin with.

Click here to visit Leonardtown's Website

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Fall 2007 Meeting

On Thursday, December 13, 2007, Secretary of Planning Richard Hall convened the second meeting of local government planning directors from throughout the state. The meeting was held in the historic Calvert Room of the State House in Annapolis.

Meeting Summary

Governor Martin O’Malley addressed the assembled officials. The Governor thanked them for coming together and expressed his appreciation for this great effort to preserve the future of Maryland. Following his remarks he took questions from the planning directors. See the meeting notes document linked below for the details of his comments.

Secretary Hall underscored the Governor’s comments about the future growth and development of Maryland. He also introduced the official name of the planning directors’ group, which will be meeting on a regular quarterly basis - The Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable.

Presentation by the Baltimore County Office of Planning

Renaissance Redevelopment Pilot Project
Presented by Arnold “Pat” Keller, III, Director

Baltimore County’s Renaissance initiative is a golden opportunity to turn underused or neglected parcels of land into community assets. This involves only properties within designated growth areas (with Priority Funding Areas) of the County and only where community residents want such redevelopment to take place. This "collaborative" design process involves full community participation in order to ensure certainty that what is planned is what will be built, thus strengthening all of our communities.

Mr. Keller presented “A New Neighborhood in Essex/Middle River” to the assembled planning directors. This talk shared Baltimore County’s process of creating a new vision for the Old Kingsley Park apartment site in the Middle River which included community input and exploration various design ideas. Mr. Keller’s screen presentation is offered here. You can learn more about Baltimore County’s Renaissance Redevelopment Pilot Project by clicking here.

Presentation by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Montgomery County

Montgomery County’s 2007-2009 Growth Policy
Presented by Karl Moritz, Chief, Research and Technology Center

If asked “what makes a community a great place to live,” many Montgomery County residents would list hassle-free roads and uncrowded schools. Others also might mention convenient mass transit and rapid response times from public safety agencies.

The Montgomery County Planning Board helps ensure those basic amenities for both current – and future – residents. Last spring, its professional planning staff began updating the guidelines that govern where new development takes place and matching that growth to the availability of public services like transportation and schools. These guidelines are called the growth policy.

Mr. Moritz presented the background, process and the vision of sustainable development that guided the County in forming its 2007-2009 Growth Policy. The growth policy looks to:

• Strengthen transportation guidelines to better consider surrounding roads and transit;
• Link the evaluation of school capacity to public school program capacity;
• Expand the definition of public facilities to include the environment (water pollution, air pollution, etc), energy, and affordable housing; and
• Establish a better way to measure the impact of growth and propose a fair impact tax for developers.

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Spring 2007 Meeting

On May 22, 2007, Secretary Richard E. Hall hosted MDPs first statewide planning directors’ meeting in over six years! This regular meeting, convening for the purpose of sharing ideas on smart and sustainable growth, would come to be known the Maryland Planning Directors’ Roundtable in subsequent sessions. Over 60 attendees gathered at the Banneker-Douglas Museum in Annapolis and made the meeting a success.

“It is important that, as planning executives, we get together to discuss issues that are relevant to both the state of Maryland and our local jurisdictions,” said Secretary Hall. “MDP is committed to hosting such meetings at least twice a year.”

May 22, 2007 Meeting Agenda
May 22, 2007 Meeting Notes

Presentations: Population Trends in Maryland, 2000-2006

Presented by Mark Goldstein, Planning Data Services, MDP
Click here for presentation

Southern Maryland Planning Directors’ Meeting

On July 26, 2007, Secretary Hall held a meeting for the planning directors in Southern Maryland who were unable to attend the May 2007 meeting.

Minutes of the Southern Maryland Region Planning Directors Meeting

Secretary Hall's General Meeting Presentation

Deputy Secretary Power's notes about 2007 legislation

Hand out of significant Planning Legislation from 2007

Mark Goldstein's presentation on Southern Maryland Population Growth Trends

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