As a part of the state’s ongoing effort to enhance collaboration and communication between Maryland’s military installations and surrounding civilian communities to promote compatible use planning and prevent potentially adverse impacts or encroachments, the Maryland Department of Commerce (Commerce) is conducting a Renewable Energy Compatibility Siting project.
One of the most popular sessions at every Maryland Planning Commissioners Association (MPCA) Conference is the Open Meetings Act (OMA) Training. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office website describes the OMA as requiring “many State and local public bodies to hold their meetings in public, to give the public adequate notice of those meetings, and to allow the public to inspect meetings minutes.”
by Victoria Olivier, AICP, Regional Planner and Kristen Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner
Urban renewal, migration from our towns and smaller cities to larger, more metropolitan areas, and attendant growth of suburbs, have created the now familiar contours of disinvestment, abandonment, and decay in towns across the U.S. This trend began as a result of rapid industrialization in the face of two World Wars, accelerating by the mid-20th century, and in some areas continues to this day.
Thus, when urban renewal resulted in tearing down entire blocks within town centers, and shopping centers were luring both stores and shoppers to follow them to the suburbs, it began to look as though small towns would simply fade away. The downward slide of traditional town centers was gradual but steady, and town leaders had little information about how to fight back.
Continue readingby Sarah Lipkin Sularz, Regional Planner and Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner
On June 16, 2020, the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning) published a webpage for our new Housing Element Models and Guidelines (M&G), developed in response to House Bill 1045 (HB 1045 [2019]) to support local governments in planning affordable housing with their jurisdictions.
In every region of Maryland there is a great need for additional affordable housing and communities from across the state have sought out funding sources and assistance for new and proposed housing of all kinds and for every type of household.
Continue readingby Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner
The Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is currently updating the State of Maryland’s Hazard Mitigation Plan as the current plan expires on August 26, 2021.
As stated on MEMA’s website: “Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to life and property from hazard events. MEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Branch collaborates with governmental and non-governmental partners before, during, and after disaster events to identify, craft, and implement comprehensive hazard mitigation strategies.”
Continue reading