MPCA Corner

The Maryland Planning Commissioners Association (MPCA) initiated the regional workshop program in spring,  2019 to supplement its annual conference, bring citizen and professional planners together to learn from each other, and share the unique joys and challenges of planning in their region.

Since that time, the MPCA has hosted regional workshops in Hagerstown, Annapolis, Salisbury, Denton, La Plata, and most recently on July 19, 2023, in Frostburg, Allegany County. During the pandemic the MPCA also conducted two virtual workshops. You can review agendas, presentations, and notes from previous workshops on the MPCA Workshop web page.

The Frostburg workshop was a huge success, thanks to the support of the City of Frostburg Director of Community Development, Bethany Fife. Approximately 15 citizen and professional planners attended from across the Western Maryland region.

Bethany and Frostburg colleagues shared the city’s efforts to build a more sustainable future, Maryland Department of Planning staff engaged workshop attendees in a session on comprehensive planning and discussed the MPCA’s new Peer Leadership Network, and MPCA Treasurer Doug Wright guided workshop attendees through a regional discussion that included the following questions and prompts:

• From the standpoint of local planning needs and priorities over the next 10 years, what topics and issues do you feel will be similar to the previous 10 years? What topics and issues will be different?
• What do you see as regional challenges in the next five years?
• Are there any successes of the past five years that could be continued and expanded?
• Please describe some of your community engagement successes and challenges.

Per the MPCA’s Strategic Plan, the organization’s mission is to educate its members, support the efficiency and effectiveness of local planning boards, and improve the quality of life for all Marylanders through comprehensive planning, environmental protection, historic preservation, and growth management. The MPCA believes regional workshops, bringing together citizen and professional planners that share a regional geography, economy, and community development needs, is a vital tool to advance this mission.

To learn more about the MPCA regional workshop program, or to request a workshop in your region, please contact Joe Griffiths, Local Assistance and Training Manager for the Maryland Department of Planning, at .