A May 6 Gazette.net article highlights some of the potential concerns MACo and the counties may raise with the recently released PlanMaryland draft.

Local governments will want to know much that is not detailed in the new proposal, including what changes the administration will seek to laws and regulations, said Les Knapp, associate director of the Maryland Association of Counties.

MACo would oppose attempts to wrest land-use decisions from local governments, Knapp said.

The association, whose membership includes all 23 counties and Baltimore city, also objects to any “one-size-fits-all approach” to Smart Growth.

Urban models do not work in rural jurisdictions, where densities are lower and growth areas are farther apart, Knapp said.

After hearing “2,000 people” from around the state say that, it is “very much at the core of PlanMaryland,” [Maryland Planning Department spokesman Andrew] Ratner said.

In addition to the public comment process, the State’s Sustainable Growth Commission has formed a PlanMaryland Workgroup to review and comment on the Plan.  The Workgroup’s next meeting is scheduled for May 10 in Baltimore City.  County representatives on the Workgroup include Mr. Knapp and Calvert County Director of Planning and Zoning Greg Bowen.