The state isn't trying to take over land planning authority from local government, a cabinet secretary told a roomful of Cecil County officials Friday.
Maryland Department of Planning Secretary Richard Hall, who has been on the hot seat with local planning officials since April when his office released PlanMaryland, a draft for "smart growth," insisted the plan doesn't supercede local comprehensive plans.
Cecil County officials and the Bainbridge Development Corp. raised concerns a few weeks ago that the Bainbridge property is not shown on the state's map for PlanMaryland as a targeted growth area.
"This is just a straight-up honest mistake on the map to leave Bainbridge off," Hall admitted. "It's ironic because we've been working with the county and Port Deposit on this project."
Maps drafted for the plan break the entire state down into five categories for planning. Those areas include: green for priority areas for land preservation, dark green for public or privately owned lands under conservation protection, red for targeted growth, orange for established communities and land currently planned for development by local governments in Priority Funding Areas and brown for areas not currently targeted by the state for growth or resource conservation.
"This is a policy plan, not a regulatory document," said Rich Josephson, director of planning services in Maryland's Department of Planning.
Hall said local governments have overreacted to the plan's intentions.
Rich Hall sounds an awful lot like “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Maryland citizens should be reminded that he also has stated, “WE gave them their property values.”, in response to farmer opposition over an attempt to strip Wicomico farmers of their property rights. – Ed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.