1992 Planning Act

The 1992 Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Act articulates the State's growth policy through seven visions (the General Assembly added an eighth vision in 2000) centered on concentrating development in suitable areas, protecting sensitive areas, and establishing funding mechanisms to achieve the visions. The Act also requires local jurisdictions to address these same visions in their comprehensive plans. All local jurisdictions,s with few exceptions, incorporated these visions into their comprehensive plans on or before July 1, 1997. Under the Act, local governments are required to review, and if necessary, update their plans once every six years.

These are the eight visions from the 1992 Planning Act.

• Development is concentrated in suitable areas.
• Sensitive areas are protected.
• In rural areas, growth is directed to existing population centers and resource areas are protected.
• Stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay and the land is a universal ethic.
• Conservation of resources, including a reduction in resource consumption, is practiced.
• To assure the achievement of items (1) through (5) of this section, economic growth is encouraged and regulatory mechanisms are streamlined.
• Adequate public facilities and infrastructure under the control of the county or municipal corporation are available or planned in areas where growth is to occur.
• Funding mechanisms are addressed to achieve these Visions.

The Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning policy is codified in §5-7A-01 of the State Finance and Procurement Article of the Annotated Code. The visions are codified in §3.06(b) of Article 66B of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

1997 Priority Funding Areas Act

The 1997 Priority Funding Areas Act directs State funding for growth related infrastructure to Priority Funding Areas (PFAs), providing a geographic focus for State investment in growth. PFAs are existing communities and places where local governments want State funding for future growth. Growth-related projects include most State programs that encourage growth and development such as highways, sewer and water construction, economic development assistance, and State leases or construction of new office facilities. The Act legislatively designated certain areas as PFAs - municipalities (as they existed on January 1, 1997), Baltimore City, areas inside the Baltimore and Capital Beltways, Department of Housing and Community Development Designated Neighborhoods - and established criteria for locally designated PFAs. The criteria include permitted density, water and sewer availability, and designation as a growth area in the comprehensive plan.

The PFA Act is codified in §5-7B of the State Finance and Procurement Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

House Bill 1141 and House Bill 2 from the 2006 Maryland General Assembly

Two successful bills from the 2006 session of the Maryland Assembly, House Bill 1141 and House Bill 2, significantly affected comprehensive plans, annexations and land preservation programs. This legislation requires that three new elements (i.e., chapters) now be included in local comprehensive plans. HB 1141 requires that all county and municipal governments include a Water Resources Plan Element (WRE) and that all municipalities include a Municipal Growth Element (MGE). The WRE addresses the relationship of planned growth to water resources for both waste disposal and safe drinking water. The MGE requires a municipality to identify areas for future growth consistent with a long-range vision for its future. Both the Water Resources and Municipal Growth Elements must be included in all comprehensive plans no later than October 1, 2009.

The Agricultural Stewardship Act of 2006, HB 2, adds a Priority Preservation Element (PPE) to the list of additional plan elements that a county may include in its comprehensive plan. However, for counties with certified agricultural land preservation programs, the element became mandatory as of July 1, 2008. Requirements for certified counties under this element are described in Section 2-518 of the Agricultural Article and §5-408 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.

House Bill 1160 in this session also established a Workforce Housing Element that must assess workforce-housing needs and contain goals, objectives and policies that preserve or develop workforce housing. This element is necessary for a local government to qualify for participation in a Workforce Housing Grant Program.

HB 1141 also established the Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development in Maryland to study current trends and challenges as they relate to population and growth, to analyze the impact of current local policies on infrastructure and the environment, and to make recommendations to implement law or regulations that further best management practices as they relate to future growth and development in the State. SB 773 amended the Task Force in the 2007 session. The report of the Task Force was presented to Governor O’Malley on January 12, 2009.

Planning Legislation Enacted in the 2009 session of the Maryland General Assembly

The Planning Visions (Chapter 176)

The new Planning Visions law modernizes the State’s eight existing planning visions with 12 new visions that reflect more accurately Maryland’s ongoing aspiration to develop and implement sound growth and development policy. The visions address:

• quality of life and sustainability,
• public participation,
• growth areas,
• community design,
• infrastructure,
• transportation,
• housing,
• economic development,
• environmental protection,
• resource conservation,
• stewardship, and
• implementation approaches

Local jurisdictions are required to include the visions in their local comprehensive plans and implement them through zoning ordinances and regulations.

The bill also requires local jurisdictions to submit a report to the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) every two years if an Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (APFO) results in a restriction in a Priority Funding Area (PFA), i.e., there is not adequate infrastructure to support such public facilities as new schools, recreational or transportation facilities, and transit oriented development. The first such report will be submitted by July 1, 2010. MDP, subsequently, is required to submit a report by January 1st every two years on the statewide impacts of APFOs.

Local jurisdiction reports on PFAs and APFOs must include information about the nature of the restriction and if available, information about the proposed resolution. A local jurisdiction’s first report is due July 1, 2010. MDP’s report on the statewide impact of APFOs has to identify: (1) geographic areas and facilities within PFAs that do not meet local adequate public facility standards; and (2) scheduled or proposed improvements to facilities in local capital improvement programs. MDP’s first report is due by January 1, 2011.

The bill also authorizes local jurisdictions to establish Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) programs within PFAs and to assist a local jurisdiction in the purchase of land for public facilities in PFAs. Proceeds from the sale of these development rights must be used for land acquisition and public facility construction in the PFA.

The Planning Visions provide the foundation and framework for a community’s comprehensive plan. They give direction to local subdivision and zoning ordinances, which directly impacts people’s lives.

Smart Growth Goals, Measures, and Indicators and Implementation of Planning Visions (Chapter 178)

In order to enhance Maryland’s ability to conduct statewide analysis, the Smart Growth Goals, Measures, and Indicators and Implementation of Planning Visions law requires local planning commissions or boards to submit annual reports on a uniform set of smart growth measures and indicators. The law also establishes for the first time a statewide land use goal with the specific intention of increasing the current percentage of growth within the PFA and decreasing the percentage of growth outside the PFA.

Because the 12 planning visions are not likely to be realized unless local jurisdictions set their own goals, the General Assembly required local jurisdictions to develop a percentage goal towards achieving the statewide goal. Charter counties are now also required to submit an annual report. In addition to other planning and development information required under current law, the annual report must state which ordinances or regulations were adopted or changed to implement the State’s planning visions. With the exception of jurisdictions that issue less than 50 building permits per year, the required measures and indicators are the following:

• amount and share of growth that is being located inside and outside the Priority Funding Area (PFA);
• net density of growth that is being located inside and outside the PFA;
• creation of new lots and the issuance of residential and commercial building permits inside and outside the PFA;
• development capacity analysis, updated once every 3 years or when there is a significant zoning or land use change; and
• amount of acreage preserved using local agricultural land preservation funding.

The annual report filed by local jurisdictions must also include a time frame for achieving the local goal, the resources necessary for infrastructure inside the PFA and land preservation outside the PFA; and any incremental progress made towards achieving the local goal.

MDP is required to develop and collect certain measures and indicators, and determine which measures will be collected by the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education. MDP is also authorized to adopt regulations. The Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development must recommend by July 1, 2009 additional measures and indicator information to be collected.

The Smart and Sustainable Growth Act of 2009 (Chapter 180)

The Smart and Sustainable Growth Act of 2009 legislation overturns the Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that substantially weakened the connection between local comprehensive plans and zoning in a case entitled David Trail v. Terrapin Run, LLC where the Court stated that local comprehensive plans were merely advisory. The new law clarifies and reiterates that local jurisdictions must implement and follow the comprehensive plan each adopts by clarifying the link between local comprehensive plans and local land use ordinances.

It also further defines the current requirement of “consistency.” Actions that are “consistent with” or have “consistency with” a comprehensive plan are actions that further, and are not contrary to, the policies, timing of implementation of the plan, timing of development, timing of rezoning, development patterns, land uses, and densities or intensities.

This definition applies to special exceptions and the adoption of local ordinances and regulations. It also applies to other sections of state law when an action is required to be “consistent with” or have “consistency with” a local plan. These include municipal annexations, water and sewer amendments and Critical Area growth allocation. In Priority Funding Areas (PFA), consistency, for the purpose of adoption of local ordinances and regulations, does not include land uses and densities or intensities. The General Assembly excluded those terms in PFAs to encourage, and not interfere with, ordinances and regulations, which allow mixed uses and bonus densities beyond those specified in the local comprehensive plan.

Recognizing that citizens deserve well-informed representation on planning commissions and boards of appeal, the law requires newly appointed members to complete an education course before July 1, 2010. The Task Force on the Future for Growth and Development is required to develop recommendations on the educational course for local jurisdictions, and the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) is required to develop an online planning education course for local jurisdictions and make it available by January 1, 2010. Local jurisdictions are authorized to develop their own educational course.