At the November 2 meeting of the Maryland Association of County Planning Officials, Anne Arundel County Planning and Zoning Director Larry Tom became the MACo affiliate group’s new president.  Mr. Tom replaced Howard County Planning and Zoning Director Marsha McLaughlin, who had served in the leadership role for the last several years.

Ms. McLaughlin served during a time of great transition in the county planning community, as county governments have had to confront the policy and implementation challenges of PlanMaryland, the septic system legislation (SB 236), the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), stormwater regulations, and numerous other land use and environmental initiatives.  During Mr. Tom’s immediate tenure, Maryland is working on adopting an Accounting for Growth Policy that will require new development to completely offset water pollution impacts and climate change proposals that could have significant impacts on local land use and planning.  TMDL implementation will also remain an ongoing issue.

It is easy to serve in a leadership role when times are quiet and difficult to serve when times are challenging.  MACo thanks both Ms. McLaughlin and Mr. Tom for their service to the county planning community.