Resources and Tools

by David Dahlstrom, AICP, Upper Easter Shore Regional Planner, Joe Rogers, AICP, Western Maryland Regional Planner, and Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner 

Zoning is a fundamental component of local planning used by jurisdictions and their planning commissions to guide growth, redevelopment, and community design. Zoning codes/ordinances and maps are the essential documents by which zoning is applied.

As with other planning documents like comprehensive plans, they must be maintained and updated regularly to ensure they are advancing community objectives in a coordinated and consistent manner.

The Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) has prepared the Maryland Zoning CheckUp (CheckUp) to aid jurisdictions with this maintenance and to ensure consistency. Specifically, it is designed as a zoning code performance guide to assist planning boards or planning commissions in small and rural jurisdictions. MDP previously shared a webinar on the CheckUp in our December 16, 2022, edition of Planning Practice Monthly.

The CheckUp is a voluntary tool that provides step-by-step guidance to reviewers through a series of prompts, questions, answers, and recommendations that streamline the review process so jurisdictions can ensure their zoning regulations are performing as intended. The CheckUp includes zoning maintenance resources on the following topics, with more to be developed.

The Zoning Checkup Outline   ​

Essential Topic Areas	Zoning Code	Comp Plan	Frequency
1. Preserving the Official Zoning Map	✓​		Annually
2. Preserving the Official Zoning Code	✓		Annually
3. Zoning Map Changes	✓​​	✓​​	Annually
4. Ordinance Integration​	✓​		Annually
Optional Topic Areas​​
TBD	TBD​	TBD	​​TBD​​