A July 31 Carroll County Times editorial details the concerns raised by Carroll County citizens at a recent Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) presentation about PlanMaryland. The Times finds the citizen concerns valid and states that the Plan needs more citizen input in order to create a “solid” master growth plan.
For Carroll residents, a main concern is a loss of property rights or the feeling that the state may impose regulations on us here that aren’t what we want. They expressed a general mistrust of government, and worry that if plans dictate a certain way of growth, then laws to enforce those ways of growth will soon follow.
They are valid concerns, as well as some of the concerns expressed about some of the language in the plan. …
But perhaps the message that needs to reverberate the loudest came from the few residents speaking who said that they recognized there were strong feelings on both sides of the issue, and that as Carroll residents we have an obligation to come together and work through our differences to set our own path. …
Last week, our Carroll County commissioners said that they were planning another meeting with the state for next month. That will provide an additional opportunity for residents to offer their input on the plan and it is good that our board recognizes the importance of getting residents involved.
We did appreciate the Carroll County Times’ supportive editorial for the PlanMaryland process on July 31. As it said, “residents who have seen growth destroy some of our rural beauty that makes Carroll such an attractive place to live … recognize that we have to take an active role in planning for growth, or we will end up like other areas that are now struggling with the problems that unplanned and unregulated growth brought.”
The Maryland Department of Planning’s outreach to Carroll County and throughout the State will continue because the stakes of sprawl patterns of growth are high. The communications we’ve had with residents and businesses over the past 3+ years has shaped the plan to this point. We’ve met with 3,000 people at more than 100 meetings in every county and Baltimore city. Since we released the draft plan three months ago, we’ve received scores of comments and nearly 6,000 people have visited Plan.Maryland.gov. Please visit the plan website to add your comments through September 1. A sustainable future for our natural resources and quality of life is the objective. We need to join together to plan, as the Times’ editorial said, in a way that “clearly defines growth and outlines how we intend to sustain that.”