Meet the Planning Staff

Susan Holm Llareus joined the Maryland Department of Planning in October 2019 in a dual role as a Supervisor and Regional Planner in our Local Assistance and Training Division. With degrees in landscape architecture and horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Susan comes to us from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), where she enjoyed many years as a planner within the Urban Design Section of the Development Review Division.

At Planning, Susan serves in a supervisory role supporting regional planners covering the Central and Southern regions of the state, while also acting as regional planner for the Maryland Capital Region, which includes Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Frederick counties. In these roles, she provides technical and training assistance to county and local planning departments, such as reviewing comprehensive plans and ordinances – as well as growth-related plans and amendments, annexations, water and sewerage plans, and others – for consistency with State planning goals and regulations. Susan also functions as Planning’s primary liaison to M-NCPPC.

Currently, Susan is working with other Local Assistance and Training staff to develop a “Models and Guidelines publication and training tool to help local jurisdictions incorporate a housing element into their local comprehensive plans. As part of this effort, she has already participated in organizing workshops during MPCA’s 2019 annual conference held in Aberdeen, the regional workshop held in Salisbury in February, and several affordable housing stakeholders’ meetings conducted early this year.

As a Professional Landscape Architect, Susan is a long-time member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). She has volunteered at the National Arboretum which, together with the National Mall and downtown Annapolis, remains one of her favorite places in the Delmarva region. She currently volunteers at a creative art re-use facility in Baltimore called SCRAP located in Pigtown, not far from Planning’s offices. Susan enjoys hiking, biking, and yoga, time at the beach, travel, art museums, and spending time with family, especially her husband Tom (also a Landscape Architect) and her three adult children.

Welcome to Planning, Susan!