A March 8 Baltimore Sun article highlights the upcoming 13  PlanMaryland forums that are being held across the state.

“It’s the first time the state has ever done anything like this,” said Richard Josephson, director of planning services. State planners have had the legal authority to draw up a statewide development plan since the 1970s, he said, but have never acted on it.

Now, though, amid signs that Maryland’s Smart Growth laws and policies haven’t slowed the spread of suburbia over the past 12 years, state officials are dusting off that unused planning tool. …

Local and state officials have sparred at times over the state’s role in guiding development. The state growth plan is not meant to usurp the power that local officials traditionally wield in deciding land use in their jurisdictions, Josephson said. Instead, it will lay out shared goals and strategies for achieving them, such as making communities more walkable and increasing housing affordability.

MACo has been urging county elected officials and land use personnel to attend. 

PlanMaryland forum schedule